‘The Scorch Trials’ Movie- Does the Title Even Make Sense?

Poster Image via Fox

This was another instance of me realizing a movie adaptation of a book was going to be released, reading the book, hating it, and delaying seeing the movie until I was bored on a Sunday night. I’m left highly disappointed on two fronts. I read James Dashner’s The Scorch Trials in the summer, around when the movie came out, and only just not snagged it from a Redbox.

Things I Thought Were Awesome

Crumbling buildings. Really all of the sets in general. I thought the image of a crumbling city that was taken over by sand was really well done. Though, I’m not sure where all that sand would have come from. It did look cool, didn’t it?

The creepy drug trip. I thought that scene would be taken out because of the audience, but I’m almost glad it was left in because it shows us a lot about Thomas and the world they’ve been thrown into. It’s creepy and violent but was still good to have in there.

Changes That Didn’t Really Bother Me

Jorge’s age. My husband and I had both imagined him younger, maybe his mid-20s, not the guy in his mid-40s we had in the movie. He seemed too much like a father figure in the movie instead of an ally because of the age difference.

Taking out head-eating bubbles. I hated this scene, it was stupid and I thought it had nothing to do with the trials they were really being put through. What was the point of it? I’m glad the movie makers decided to take it out. Good riddance.

Teresa was with them the entire time. It bothered me in the book how she would show up and disappear seemingly at random. I liked it better when she was traveling with the guys.

Cover image via Goodreads.com

Things That Were Taken Out and I’m Still Wondering Why

Traveling at night. Honestly, I thought the movie characters came off as stupid for this. In the book, they realize traveling during the day in the desert makes them visible and exposes them to extreme heat. So they travel at night. In the movie, there must have been budgetary problems with filming at night because those idiots traveled across the desert in the middle of the day. Are you kidding me?!

Things That Changed Too Much

The whole thing being a test. Honestly, this bothered me the whole time. In the book, they’re given a trial (thus the name of the book) to travel a certain distance across the scorch. A scorch trial if you will. In the movie, they’re running away, have no idea where they’re going, and take off in search of a group they’re not sure exists. The title of the movie doesn’t make sense. We’re led to believe that WICKED is bad again instead of trying to help them. It’s so different from the book that I couldn’t pretend to enjoy it.

Teresa’s betrayal. Yeah, this was just the whipped cream on the top of my dislike sundae. Teresa does betray Thomas in the book, kind of. But she wouldn’t betray all of her friends for WICKED. They changed Teresa’s character too much and made her really unlikable and a terrible love interest for Thomas.  Boooo.

I doubt I’ll see the final movie or read the book. Reader, have you see the Scorch Trials movie? What did you think?

Until next time, write on.