The Basics
The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
Read my review of the book here.
True to Book: 
Casting: 
Enjoyability:
Overall Score: 
Goodreads Book Plot Summary:
Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end.
Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch.
There are no rules. There is no help. You either make it or you die.
The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.
Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken. All bets are off.
There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive.
My Thoughts
This was a really action-packed and entertaining movie. I certainly enjoyed watching it in a dine-in theater with a milkshake in front of me, but it was nothing like the book. Surprise, surprise.
True to the Book
I sort of LOL when I think about this category. These movies are really just so not like the books at all. I don’t even know where to begin and I won’t bother listing how different they are (I already did that for the Maze Runner adaptation). It’s funny because I remember talking about how boring the book was, but this movie had a lot of action and running around. There’s not a lot of similarity between the books and movies for this series, but they OVERALL still follow the same premise. It’s nice that they’re not completely reimagined; there are just some major plot points changed or skimmed over.
Casting
I like the casting for the movies. I think Dylan O’Brian is really attractive, so that’s a plus. Everyone else from the first movie stuck around and did well for this adaptation as well. However, I don’t think Brenda looked ANYTHING like I imagined. It may have been a hair thing (I didn’t picture it that short!), but overall her personality was well done. The actress did a great job of acting like Brenda did. I also think the actor playing Jorge did a great job, even though he also wasn’t what I pictured.
Enjoyability
It’s funny because I actually really enjoyed this movie. There was a lot more action than I remembered there being in the book, so it certainly kept me entertained. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the next movie because I gradually hated the books in this series… but the movies have been entertaining. Maybe I actually like that the movies are different and don’t follow the books? That’d be a first! Either way, I liked the movie a lot and hope that the next one is better than the book too. The key to watching these movies, I’ve decided, is just to pretend that they’re two separate things… instead of getting annoyed at how different they are.
Have you seen THE SCORCH TRIALS yet? Did you read the book? How do you think it stacked up?
When I watched the movie, I kept thinking “this did not happen in the book.” I read the book a while ago but I could still tell it was way different. Like you though, I liked the movie better. The books were kind of boring after the first one. I enjoyed the added action of the movie.
Yes! The action makes all the difference.
I can’t wait to see this one! I enjoyed the first book and movie, and it isn’t surprising that the second installment wanders from the book as well. Anyway, I wasn’t a big fan of the third book either.
Yeah, it’s best to keep the two separate!
It’s just a matter of time before I go and watch this movie! I am looking forward to doing so because I did love the books and I thought the first movie was enjoyable enough so I want to see how this one is going to measure up as well. It seems like it does deviate quite a bit from the book, but it is still an enjoyable movie on its own and that the casting was brilliant.
Yes, exactly! I keep the two separate.