‘Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials’ Early Reviews Are Here 

‘Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials’ Early Reviews Are Here

It’s been an agonizing wait to find out where Thomas, Newt, Minho, Teresa and the rest of the Gladers we fell in love with last year have found themselves after surviving “The Maze Runner” (unless you’ve read the books, of course) — and we’ve

got another two weeks to go before “The Scorch Trials” arrives. Life isn’t fair, man.

But in the meantime, we can still live vicariously through every single movie critic and reviewer who’s already seen it. Here’s what people are saying:

First of all, don’t expect the movie to hold your hand if you’re not a diehard “Maze Runner” stan.

When you’re a fan of a series, having to sit through an expository scene of what happened in the movie before the one you’re currently watching can be one of the most annoying things ever. But according to

, “The Scorch Trials” literally drops you right into the action, a few minutes after the closing events of “Maze Runner”– so make sure you’re all caught up before you watch!

Think the frantic action of the Maze can’t be beat? Think again.

“There is some genuinely terrifying and grotesque imagery here, PG-13 be damned, and the chases and action sequences are quite impressive in a sub-genre not exactly known for its ripping action scenes,”

said. Other critics agreed, saying that the horror elements everyone loved in the first movie are even scarier this time around.

Part of that is because the Cranks are straight-up terrifying.

The Grievers of the Maze were as fascinating as they were scary, but there’s just something about a post-apocalyptic zombie archetype that really gets us going.

“The Cranks as this film’s monsters, replacing the large insectoids of the Maze, make a lot more sense,” said Nerdist’s review. “They feel like regular ol’ zombies, but it all tracks within the context of the story, and frankly they’re just easier to buy.”

“O’Brien looks far more like a proper movie star this time around. He looked like an innocent in the midst of the maze, but in ’The Scorch’ Thomas becomes a leader and O’Brien becomes an action star,” said HeyUGuys.

But there’s also some bummer news: not everybody loved it.

The middle of a franchise is usually pretty hit or miss — sometimes you get a movie that’s even better than the first one, and sometimes you get one that feels like it’s treading water for the big series finale. Sadly, a lot of reviewers seem to think “The Scorch Trials” is the latter.

“While there’s certainly an arc to this film, a lot of it feels like we’re just waiting around for part 3, which will surely come out next year,” Nerdist noted. Many other critics also noted that while “The Maze Runner” was unlike anything we’d seen before, its sequel feels very reminiscent of other dystopian movies like “Divergent.”

And then there were some critics that just flat out didn’t like it as a movie. TheWrap called it “dull” and “cobbled together;”

added that unlike the first movie, “there’s little real sense of group dynamics, and the primary characters are all purely reactive, simply trudging from one horror to the next waiting for someone to tell them what’s going on.” Yikes!

But don’t worry, that doesn’t mean you won’t have hella fun.

Even some critics who weren’t that fascinated by the Gladers still enjoyed themselves while watching, which is good news for fans who’ve been obsessed with the series for years, and who’ve been dying to see Thomas’ adventures continue past the Maze.

“The plot is a junior jumble of hack mysteries and largely unremarkable characters, but the experience of watching it unfold is so downright electric that you never quite give a damn,” William Bibbiani said for CraveOnline.

And one thing’s for sure — fans are already enthralled.

@jamesdashner @wesball @dylanobrien @SangsterThomas @kScodders I just saw Scorch Trials. IT WAS JUST THE BEST MOVIE I'VE EVER SEEN, THANK U

— newt is cute (@NewtsParadise) September 8, 2015

“The Scorch Trials” comes out on the 10th for UK audiences, and some lucky people have already gotten to see it in advance. So don’t worry about what the critics think — it’s the fans that matter, right?

The #ScorchTrials (that's the official title as in the film) was awesome. You'll hear this a lot – it is the Empire Strikes Back of TMR.

— Anton Volkov (@antovolk) September 7, 2015

Congratulations @wesball @jamesdashner The Scorch Trials was absolutely incredible!

MANAGED TO GET INTO THE SCREENING AND THE SCORCH TRIALS WAS SO GOOD OMG pic.twitter.com/pCF5pXw6YB

“Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” hits theaters September 18.