Maze Runner - The Chosen In The Burnt Desert - Blu-ray

Movie: Having just escaped the deadly maze, Thomas (Dylan O`Brien), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) and Minho (Ki Hong Lee) find that they are not safe even with the WCKD organization. And even their supposed rescuers, led by the shady Janson (Aiden Gillen) they can not trust. And so Thomas and a few others of the Chosen dare to escape into the dangerous Burnt Desert. Here they hope to find answers to what has happened to them and the world. A group of resistance fighters led by Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito) and young Brenda (Rosa Salazar) may be able to help them. But are the enemies of WCKD automatically the friends of Thomas and his fellow fighters? And are there other survivors who could provide them with more answers? As the teens try to figure it out, their pursuers from WCKD are closing in on them. And they're far from the only danger waiting for them in the burnt wasteland.

Maze Runner - The Chosen in the Labyrinth, based on the successful trilogy of novels penned by James Dashner, was another representative of the currently so popular YA dystopias that came to our cinemas in 2014. Of course, the comparison to other young-adult series such as The Tributes of Panem or Divergent - The Destiny is obvious. But even if the story had hardly anything really new to offer, the film adaptation could score especially in the second half with some good effects and gripping moments of suspense. These were primarily due to the labyrinth, which no longer plays a role in the second part. But also the title-giving fire desert offers some good show values and exciting dangers, which let the entertainment value in many moments skyrocket.

The sequel is altogether more varied, more exciting and more spectacular, than the predecessor. Still, Part 2 struggles with the same problems: the characters are walking clichés who also nicely cover as many ethnicities as possible in a politically correct manner. The dialogue is shockingly flat in places and makes the actors seem relatively pale despite all efforts. Furthermore, despite a consistent progression, the story offers no real surprises. This is simply due to the fact that Dashner has already used many other genre representatives in his novels quite obviously and has hardly brought his own ideas.

But one should never forget for which target audience the books and the film adaptations are intended. And for teens 13 and up, the Chosen's merciless escape through a post-apocalyptic world is a truly gripping adventure with plenty of action and a compelling hero, though his secret isn't fully revealed in this installment either. But more and more clues are provided about what happened to Thomas and the others, why they are so important for WCKD and what turned the earth into this deadly scorched wasteland.

If you can overlook the many clichés and primarily want to be offered target-group appropriate action and fodder for the eye, this is absolutely right. And who already liked part 1, which should not miss this successful sequel in any case. For this there is quite clearly a: worth seeing - especially since the Blu-ray comes along completely uncut in contrast to the theatrical version.

Picture + Sound: As was to be expected, the technical implementation of Maze Runner for the Blu-ray release can convince in almost every respect. The image is crystal clear and has a tremendous amount of detail as a result. The somewhat artificial color scheme is cohesive and captures the atmosphere of the story very well. Whether it's in the brighter shots or the darker ones, there's really hardly anything recognizable to fault about the picture quality. The same can be said for the sound, which has a wide range of effects to offer. From smaller sounds discreetly integrated into the action to large, massive sound effects, the viewer gets something thrown at their ears from all channels over and over again here. Very good!

Extras: The bonus material starts with an interesting audio commentary by director Wes Ball, screenwriter T.S. Nowlin, producer Joe Hartwick Jr. and editor Dan Zimmerman. The commentary is commendably subtitled, so that even those interested viewers who have little or no knowledge of the English language can enjoy it. The film continues with a secret report by Janson (Aiden Gillen), in which interviews with the young people after their release from the labyrinth can be seen (approx. 4:57 min.). This is followed by 14 cut and extended scenes that can be viewed with optional commentary from the director (approx. 17:58 min.). For fans, there are some moments worth watching here, such as the death of a minor character from Part 1 who simply disappears during the course of the second film without much notice. It's not until you see this scene that you actually notice.

The next extra is also the best of the disc: Secrets of the Burnt Desert takes an interesting look at various aspects of the production in six parts (approx. 52:15 min.). A really good making of, which fans should not miss. In addition, there are somewhat too long outtakes (approx. 15:02 min.), a look at the creation of the visual effects (approx. 1:02 min.), as well as image comparison between the raw version and the final cut (8 scenes, approx. 29:55 min.), the trailer and two image galleries. Very good!

Conclusion: Maze Runner - The Chosen in the Burnt Desert is a successful sequel, in which the story is consistently told even after the escape from the labyrinth. However, the weaknesses of the first part are also repeated, so viewers who were disappointed by the predecessor will certainly not find part 2 much better. In the home theater, the film appears in uncut version, while it had been cut by 2 minutes in the theater. The Blu-ray presents the escape through the burning desert in very good picture and sound quality and also has some really good extras on board. For fans of the series is therefore quite clear: Absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp