All 3 Maze Runner Movies, Ranked From Worst To Best

The teenage experience typically includes times in our lives where we feel alone. Other times, it includes days where it can feel like your friends could easily become your greatest enemies. The three "Maze Runner" movies (based on the young-adult "Maze Runner" books from author James Dashner) tap into those universal emotions as well as adding more outlandish scenarios, like being trapped in an impenetrable labyrinth or having to outrace zombies and mechanical beasties. All three of these installments were helmed by then-future "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" and "The Legend of Zelda" director Wes Ball and were released from September 2014 to January 2018 by 20th Century Fox.

Though none of these three movies are enduring masterpieces, these Dylan O'Brien star vehicles certainly fared better culturally than the various YA novel movie adaptations that flopped. Plus, unlike fellow 2010s dystopian YA novel adaptation saga "Divergent," "The Maze Runner" actually completed its story on the big screen rather than leaving audiences with an unrealized ending. With these achievements under the belt of the "Maze Runner" movies, it's worth also asking what kind of artistic qualities these individual films possess. Ranking all three "Maze Runner" features from worst to best helps break down the artistic lows of these movies trying so hard to channel some of that "Hunger Games" success.

However, this ranking also demonstrates the higher creative points of these individual adventures. Such artistic peaks explain why so many people still enjoy getting lost in the "Maze Runner" universe.

"Here's looking at you, kid." "Always do the right thing." Joining this pantheon of unforgettable movie quotes is is a line from A.D. Janson (Aiden Gillen) at the beginning of "The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials:" "Welcome to The Scorch!"

It's said with more than a few traces of his distinctive Irish accent, and those four words manage to sound momentous coming out of his mouth. For this adventure, Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and his pals have escaped the titular Maze that they were stuck in during the first movie. Now, they must contend with WCKD, a formidable organization in this post-apocalyptic wasteland, as well as all the other colorful characters (and creatures basically amounting to zombies) littering The Scorch.

"The Scorch Trials" makes the wise move to liven up its world by introducing Giancarlo Esposito as new character Jorge. Solid performer Rosa Salazar being around as Jorge's surrogate daughter Brenda also helps perk up the proceedings. Otherwise, this isn't one of those sci-fi sequels that are better than the original film.

Part of the problem is that there's a lack of specificity to either the characters or their world. Thomas, especially, is a thinly sketched anchor for all of these movies. The expansive sandy desert locales comprising The Scorch and the grey sterile realms that dominate the WCKD labs, meanwhile, don't make for visually stimulating spaces. Sure, director Wes Ball and company gave the world "welcome to The Scorch," but "The Scorch Trials" needed far more than a punchy line to flourish.

In hindsight, it's easy to see why "The Maze Runner" broke out at the box office while so many other YA novel movie adaptations flopped at trying to recapture the success of "The Hunger Games." For one thing, the story of Thomas suddenly waking up in a forest-covered center of a labyrinth had an intriguing air of mystery to it. Audiences had their curiosity provoked by wondering what was behind this odd situation. Plus, watching these teens try and survive on their own evoked "Lord of the Flies" more than "Battle Royale," which gave it a distinctive edge compared to, say, "Divergent." It also helped that director Wes Ball lent a sturdy hand to the film behind the camera.

While these qualities make it easy to understand the film's box office success, they don't necessarily erase the greater problems plaguing "The Maze Runner" artistically. For one thing, the writing of the supporting players is rudimentary. The film also ends on a barrage of cliffhangers that render the whole production into a teaser trailer for further "Maze Runner" adventures. Other key qualities that could have lent this project some more idiosyncrasies, like John Paesano's score, are also perfunctory in execution. Little goes super haywire in "The Maze Runner," but there's also little here to really make the movie stand out in one's mind, long term.

In hindsight, it's greatest accomplishment was teeing up Ball for greater things as a filmmaker and giving O'Brien his big break in movies before excelling in titles like "Twinless."

The most baffling part of "The Maze Runner: The Death Cure" is that it runs 142 minutes. Sure, it's technically not as long as the best movies over five hours long. However, watching it is still sometimes a slog and the length feels ill-fitting for this story. It's understandable when Ryusuke Hamaguchi or Chantal Akerman deliver mammoth runtimes to explore everyday reality. It's another for a movie called "The Death Cure" to stretch its plot to such lengthy confines. Despite that flaw, "The Death Cure" is a more confident creation than its predecessors; one that ends up throwing enough things at the wall that stick.

After all, how many movies can confidently say they contain Patricia Clarkson delivering mournful monologues, zombies, and Walton Goggins playing a post-apocalyptic desert wandering mutant devoid of a nose — well before "Fallout" premiered? This barrage of imaginative details and capable performances are handled nicely by director Wes Ball, who continues his commendable track record helming these movies. Actors like Dylan O'Brien are comfortable in these roles and prove fine anchors for the proceedings as a result. A willingness to actually kill major characters (a refutation of one of the dumbest things in the "Stranger Things" finale nearly a decade before it aired) also infuses the production with actual tension.

Granted, that bloated runtime does mean "The Death Cure" wears out its welcome long before the credits roll. Still, the "Maze Runner" movies are one of those movie trilogies that ended with their best installment.