The five-year “Maze Runner” film series has come to a conclusion with the third and final installment: “The Death Cure.”

The finale returns all of the main cast including the return of Will Poulter as Gally, and they are serving up the action-packed narrative once more.

After the original film in the fall of 2014 and the sequel a year later, “The Scorch Trials,” a series of delays in bringing this project together ensued.

Moreover, after originally being scheduled for an early 2017 release, production was halted in March of 2016 after lead actor Dylan O’Brien (Thomas) sustained a serious injury while filming.

Now, the gang travels back to WCKD (pronounced “Wicked”) now operating at full force in their original base in a place called The Last City, and they intent to end this once and for all, one way or another.

Indeed, “The Scorch Trials” tagline was right: “the Maze was just the beginning.”

Their mission is one of revenge and rescue. Revenge on the leaders of WCKD who are sacrificing dozens of kids, particularly Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson) and Janson (Aidan Gillen).

Secondly, to rescue their maze Glade friend, Minho, before he becomes the next sacrifice.

Years removed from the devastating solar flare that set the bleak future for this dystopian society, the ensuing Flare virus has spread like wildfire, infecting most of the people there. The search for a cure continues under stout pressure, sacrificing countless immune teenagers to find one.

Around the whole Last City is built a giant wall to keep out the infected, referred to as cranks, and outside the wall exists infected people who are surviving, but are not seen as good enough, or chosen, by WCKD to be a part of their “safe haven” city.

The film asks both directly and implicitly, important questions regarding the morality of both sides of the fight. The work of WCKD swears by its intentions to complete their work until they find a cure for the greater good of the world and its people. It asks the questions of what is right versus what is correct.

For Thomas, specifically, he must face the choice of saving his friends or saving the world. Sacrificing a whole generation in search for the right immune teen to then extract his life to engineer a cure or to escape, perhaps selfishly, to an island safe haven to start over small.

One character, therefore, may be the key to solving their whole problem, but the cost may mean his own life and giving in to the hands of those whose trust is potentially a fickle friend- and time is running out.

Alliances are chosen and become ever-changing as “The Death Cure” addresses straight on the enigma of hanging onto to something even when you shouldn’t. It weaves together well the bond many of these Glade characters share as they attempt to overcome and find a solution that can save everyone.

Strongly performed and full of intensity, it packs together heart and loyalty as a decent ending to the Maze Runner story.

Alex Novak is an entertainment reviewer. Contact him at [email protected].