Entertainment : In Depth: Maze Runner: The Death Cure

Which do you like better - the book or the movie? This week you'll have the chance to figure that out for yourself when you come see Maze Runner: The Death Cure. NOW SHOWING Fri, Feb 23 - Thur, Mar 1 at 7 pm Mon, Feb 26 at 2 pm This is the third and final installment in the series based on the books of the same title. Would you believe that The Maze Runner film series is the fifth highest grossing series based on young adult books? Worldwide, it is the fourth highest grossing. Now, I'd say competing against Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, The Twilight Saga and The Divergent Series, that's really saying something.

On www.goodreads.com, users rated the books an average of 4.2 out of 5 stars. The series definitely has some Hunger Games and Divergent series vibes. I'm going to give you a little backdrop to the previous two films so you can catch up with where the third is going.

The Maze Runner, the first in the series came out in September 2014. The protagonist, Thomas finds himself in a community of boys and seems to have no memory except odd dreams involving an organization known as the W.C.K.D. The group learns they are all trapped in a maze and make their escape. By piecing together clues from his dreams and discoveries inside the maze, Thomas hopes to find the way to escape - and his purpose in this place.

In Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), Thomas and the group, known now as Gladers, face some new challenges as they find themselves on open roads and a place known as the Scorch, with all new sets of obstacles. They continue to search for clues about the organization, W.C.K.D and find out just what it means for them.

This takes us to our film and the final in the series - Maze Runner: The Death Cure. Thomas is on a mission to find a cure for a deadly disease. The Gladers needs to break into the legendary Last City, and with that city comes another maze. Whoever can survive will get the answers to the questions they had when they first arrived at the maze.

Now, I don't know about you but I noticed a big time gap between the second and third film. The first two came out in sequential years with the third being released three years after the second. As usual, I like to do a little digging. Here's what I found out from www.imdb.com.

Dylan O'Brien, who plays Thomas, suffered some serious injuries while filming the opening train chase scene on March 17, 2016. The injuries included a concussion, fractured cheekbones and orbital socket as well as lacerations. His recovery took longer than expected, resulting in a setback in production. Production for the film didn't resume until February 2017.

The Maze Runner: The Death Cure is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language and some thematic elements. It's a longer film, at 142 minutes. If you're looking for action I'd say this one will probably quench your thirst - and if it doesn't, we have beverages at the concession stand.

See you at the movies!