MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE (12A)

THE third and final film based on James Dashner’s post-apocalyptic trilogy for young adults arrives more than two years after the second instalment, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.

Lead actor Dylan O’Brien was seriously injured on the set of the concluding chapter and production shut down for almost a year to allow him to fully recover.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure follows directly from events in the middle film with Thomas (O’Brien) and his young friends coming to terms with the realisation that their blood could hold the key to unlocking a cure to the deadly Flare contagion, which has reduced humanity to flesh-hungry predators known as Cranks.

Defying the advice of other survivors, Thomas pledges to rescue his captured friend Minho (Ki Hong Lee) from the clutches of the World Catastrophe Killzone Department (WCKD) and its Machiavellian lead physician, Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson).

The WCKD headquarters is situated within the walls of the Last City. Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Frypan (Dexter Darden), Brenda (Rosa Salazar) and her surrogate father Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito) join Thomas on a daredevil mission to infiltrate the stronghold.

The journey takes them deep into enemy territory overrun with vicious Cranks.

En route, Thomas encounters a familiar face from the Maze trials and he faces an agonising decision about whether he should trust Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) with his life.