‘Blade Runner’ Meets ‘Hunger Games’ in HBO Max’s Hit Sci-Fi Trilogy Finale

At the height of the popularity of The Hunger Games, in book form and its wildly successful film franchise starring Jennifer Lawrence, Hollywood was all in on adapting Young Adult novel series for the big screen, particularly ones set in a dystopian world. In 2014, 20th Century Studios’ answer to The Hunger Games was The Maze Runner, an action-adventure science fiction three-part franchise based on the books by James Dashner starring Dylan O’Brien.

At the helm of all three movies, which included two sequels, The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure, was Wes Ball, who would later direct 2024’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The trilogy’s finale, released in 2018, is now available to stream on HBO Max. Running at 143 minutes and rounded out by a stacked supporting cast, The Maze Runner: The Death Cure is an ambitious conclusion that blends The Hunger Games‘ teen uprising with the technological nightmare of Blade Runner.

‘The Death Cure’ Was an Audacious, Divisive Conclusion to the Maze Runner Series

Image via 20th Century Studios

It’s a miracle audiences received a third installment in the Maze Runner franchise at all, as Dylan O’Brien’s near-fatal on-set accident while performing a stunt in The Scorch Trials nearly jeopardized not just the series, but also the bright future of one of Hollywood’s youngest leading men, who recently was fantastic in Sam Raimi‘s Send Help. Based on Dashner’s novel of the same name, The Death Cure follows the Gladers as they team up with the Right Arm resistance to infiltrate a fortified city and make it out alive while trying to prevent WCKD from experimenting on immune children in this labyrinthine last city. It’s all been leading up to this, with much of the drama stemming from the confrontation between leader Thomas (O’Brien) and Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), who betrayed the team by joining the wicked WCKD.

Continuing the success of the previous films, The Death Cure thrived at the box office, grossing $288 million worldwide, though not in the states, as nearly 80% of its gross came from the international market. Its reception was mixed at best, with praise going towards the film’s impressive production design and spectacle, but the thinly veiled character construction and dense runtime overpowered its cinematic bravura. The excess and bloat within the film’s elaborate sets and narrative scope signaled that the post-Hunger Games YA boom needed a resting period.

‘The Death Cure’ Raised the Stakes for YA Dystopian Science Fiction Movies

Each installment of The Maze Runner was instantly lent an extra layer of gravitas thanks to its inspired supporting cast, which included Will Poulter, Patricia Clarkson, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aidan Gillen, and Giancarlo Esposito. For The Death Cure, the series added the indelible screen presence of Walton Goggins, playing Lawrence, the rebellion leader taking the group into the vaunted Last City. The Justified star, in particular, steals the show in this epic fight for liberty as an enigmatic, dangerous voice of the suppressed. After leading the series across two movies, Dylan O’Brien earns his status as one of the icons of YA cinema, and audiences are fortunate to watch Thomas’ evolution during this span.

It’s no surprise that Wes Ball was later granted the opportunity to re-imagine Planet of the Apes in 2024, as his Maze Runner trilogy treats itself as a major tentpole franchise with its handsomely crafted sets, action sequences, and dramatic thrust. Movies with this much lore and elaborate plot mechanics are often alienating to the casual viewer, but Ball’s accessible deployment of action and sci-fi tropes makes this world translatable to those unfamiliar with the source material, or even for those who haven’t seen the previous movies. The director is currently at the helm of the upcoming Legend of Zelda movie, which is set to be one of the marquee releases on the 2027 calendar. The Death Cure‘s virtuosic craft will draw parallels to the dystopian dreamscape of Blade Runner. The universe appears to be technologically cutting-edge, but in reality, society is collapsing under itself.

There’s no getting around its inherent flaws, notably the messy script that features far too many endings and characters that are operating on re-heated beats. Maze Runner fans probably wanted something more gratifying on a story level, but as a feat of action/sci-fi filmmaking, The Death Cure cashed in on the triumphant success of its predecessors and the popularity of YA dystopian adaptations.