Wes Ball did it again, but this time even better.

“Scorch Trials” picks up immediately after Thomas and the remaining gladers escape the maze where the antagonizing group WCKD trapped them into being experimented on. They rejoin the real world again, or what’s left of it. The gladers find themselves in a post apocalyptic world where the world was scorched by the sun leaving most of the Earth decimated. Along with this tragedy, an epidemic known as the “Flare” was left that makes people basically turn into zombies known as “cranks.”

Grievers aren’t the problem anymore. The gladers are stuck defending themselves against cranks and are conflicted on who to trust.

The first movie is child’s play compared to the second film. New characters are introduced, the story is taken beyond the maze and continues to unravel.

Throughout the whole movie, they’re always in the face of danger. The world thrilling seems like an understatement. Along with the movie being action-packed, the film is filled with drama that enriches the story line.

As far as staying true to the book, I think the movies are doing the story justice. The story in the book is tweaked around in order to make sense in the film. Key elements remain though and in overall, it works tremendously well for a movie.

The score is composed by the same person who composed the first film. John Paesano adds more depth in the rhythm. The music varies. The rhythm picks up into an intense sequence that will get louder as the scene proceeds but at other times it may quiet down to almost nothing as the gladers are running for their lives.

Scenery is another thing that should be admired as well. Compared to the limiting walls in the maze, skyscrapers and popular cities are shown completely covered in sand.

The wave of new characters add a refreshing sense of how much bigger the problem is and more important than them.

Despite the cliché trend of love triangles in most Young Adult movie adaptations, the film is about the connections Thomas has with the people he’s gone so far with. Some are stronger than others.

Either way, Dylan O’Brien (Thomas) does an impeccable job as “the leader.” He cares about his friends and he refuses to be experimented on. He doesn’t stop at anything in order to get the answer he needs. These teenagers are put in life and death situations and it’s all portrayed in outstanding performances by the main four O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Ki-Hong Lee and Thomas Sangster.

I can’t wait to see how the saga will wrap up in the concluding films that will come out in 2017. It is extremely rare for book to movie adaptations do so well and I have no doubt that “Maze Runner: Death Cure” will most likely exceed my expectations just as Wes Ball did with “Scorch Trials.”