Making its way to the #1 movie in the box office this past week, the sequel to The Maze Runner, Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, made $30.3 million opening weekend, $2.2 million less than the first movie.

The film begins with four teenagers: Thomas, played by Dylan O’Brien; Minho, played by Ki Hong Lee; Newt, played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster; and Teresa, played by Kaya Scodelario, being taken to an outpost in the middle of the desert for safety after escaping the maze from the previous movie.

Thomas begins to worry that this “facility” is too good to be true and begins to investigate with the help of his new friend Aris, played by Jacob Lofland. The two figure out that W.I.C.K.E.D. is still taking the teens and testing on them to find a cure for “The Flare.”

The film continues with Aris, Thomas, Newt, Minho, Teresa, Frypan, and Winston escaping in hope to find a place called Safe Haven, the resistance against W.I.C.K.E.D.. The 7 teens then begin “The Scorch Trials.” Unfortunately, the film does not really explain what The Scorch Trails is.

Tragedies happen when the teens find their selves face to face with The Flare, a disease that when infected, slowly turns you into a zombie called “Cranks.”

While sleeping, Thomas gets woken by the sight of civilization in the distance. The teens arrive at another outpost. They meet Brenda, played by Rosa Salazar; and Jorge, played by Giancarlo Esposito. Both are dangerous survivors who have been living on their own for years.

The film continues with Brenda and Jorge tagging along with the teens in search for the Right Arm, a resistance base who works against W.I.C.K.E.D.

The film concludes with W.I.C.K.E.D. attacking the base of Right Arm. Ava, played by Patricia Clarkson, arrived and confronted Mary Cooper, played by Lili Taylor, who was a former scientist of W.I.C.K.E.D. that left with the captured survivors to continue experimenting.

“Released from the confines of the original, Scorch Trials is bigger and more ambitious. It’s not necessarily better, but is still a whole lot of fun,” Gregory Wakeman said from Cinemablend.

The 2 hour film has more action than the first, although the plot is fast moving. The director made sure to keep the moviegoer interested by keeping you entertained throughout the film with action packed scenes and interesting characters. The characters, and the actors behind them, show great on screen chemistry. It’s safe to say that this film will not let you down. The film was very well produced.

Scorch Trials will be followed by The Death Cure, set to be released in February 2017.