Hitting cinemas in Thailand yesterday, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, a sequel to the film series by director Wes Ball based on James Dashner's young-adult science fiction trilogy, is a direct continuation from its first instalment last year, which earned over US$345.5 million (12 billion baht) at the box office worldwide.
This time, however, in place of the hazardous maze, it's a total wasteland with zombie-like people known as "Cranks", a phase two for a group of "Gladers" who have managed to escape from the maze.
At the movie premiere earlier this month at Seoul's Gangnam Megabox Coex, two lead actors from the film series, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Ki Hong Lee, walked down the red carpet, welcomed by a number of teen fans. They later sat down with Life, and talked about why The Maze Runner is such a success and how it is different from other post-apocalyptic films.
"We set ourselves in a post-apocalyptic world, but we are not trying to save it necessarily," said Korean-American Ki Hong Lee, who's also known for his role as Paul in American fantasy drama TV series The Nine Lives Of Chloe King and Dong Nguyen in the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
"We are only trying to survive and understand what's going on. We are not out there to save the world. I suppose you can say it is quite selfish but it's also completely understandable and very human, and the only way we can do that is by sticking together as a team."
The first instalment follows Thomas, played by Dylan O'Brien, who together with Ki Hong Lee as Minho are "runners" or labyrinth explorers, who manage to take a group of friends, known as Gladers, out from the maze. In The Scorch Trials, they find themselves in laboratory-like confinement controlled by the mysterious and powerful organisation known as WCKD.
"The natural human instinct is to survive and to care and love for your fellow man and that's the message that we have in this film, with the backdrop of it being a fun adventure movie," said Brodie-Sangster, who plays Newt, another member of the group. He's known by most as that little boy in Love Actually or by the role of Jojen Reed in Game Of Thrones.
"It's crazy how humanity has progressed so far in such a small space of time," explained Brodie-Sangster. "And yet we've become used to it. What happens if you take everything away, all your comfort, everything that we have become used to. That's what we are asking in this film and what is important is the people around you, that's it."
While in the first film it was just O'Brien and Ki Hong Lee who did most of the running, Ki Hong Lee said the biggest challenge in shooting this one was the physical aspect of it as they had to move together in a bigger group. Other cast members include Rosa Salazar, Kaya Scodelario, Jacob Lofland and Giancarlo Esposito.
"A lot of us got hurt, went to the hospital, but because there's a lot more action, this film is more fun and exciting," he said.
In order to get himself into character in this fictional world, Brodie-Sangster said it was all about the credibility of the characters and learning to stay in the moment.
"I think what makes this film fun, or others that are set in a fantastical period, is that it's something very far-fetched," Brodie-Sangster. "You have to have a very grounded, believable character in order for the audience to relate to those characters in this mayhem, this madness. Since you say 'Action!', you're not aware of things being pretend. At that moment, it's 100% real and so you only react in a realistic and true way."
Just the cast members, especially Dylan O'Brien who starred in popular TV series Teen Wolf, are enough reason to understand why the film is such a success. Ki Hong Lee, however, said that it is because the film very easily related to by "young Millennials growing up in this world".
"It's about a group of kids that are trying to figure out their way in the world," said Ki Hong Lee. "They are trying to figure out about what I'm gonna do with my life, who I am as a person. I think it's great social commentary about the importance of having good people around you."
Another thing which makes this film series stand out from other young-adult or post-apocalyptic films is the fact that there is never a clear line between good and evil.
"I suppose you can say the character Thomas is our hero but I don't believe we really have a hero and I don't believe we have a villain," said Brodie-Sangster. "Even at the end of the movie you don't know if WCKD is good or bad. There are no real goodies and no baddies, just people put into a situation and watching how different people deal with it."
Thomas Brodie-Sangster, left, and Ki Hong Lee at a press conference in Korea earlier this month.
