The Maze Runner (2014)

Yes, one more dystopia for the year. It stops streaming on Netflix January 8, and I didn't want to forget. Besides, there's some advantage to watching while my memory of a certain other is still pretty fresh.

Once a month, an initially unidentified organization sends a new amnesiac teen, along with a few supplies, to a walled-off Glade with other such teens. Part of the wall opens each dawn to reveal a mechanized labyrinth, and designated "Runners" will explore and map it, hoping to find an exit. They have to return before the wall closes at dusk, because no one has ever lasted a night in the maze without getting stung by a cyborg monster called a Griever. If it doesn't kill you outright, its venom makes you too aggressively insane to retain your welcome in the Glade.

Protagonist Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) is the latest arrival, about three years into the maze's existence, so the population is a couple dozen. Within a few days, his curiosity has him breaking the teen society's rules and succeeding where no one else has. Not everyone appreciates this, especially Gally (Will Poulter), one of the leaders, who fears how the maze will respond. Indeed, it does start doing things differently, upping the difficulty level....

When I first heard of TMR, I thought of The Hunger Games. Now I feel like focusing on their contrasts. First of all, instead of precise gender balance, the Glade has only boys -- until the third act. Nobody shows any carnal or romantic interest in the new girl, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), if only because she's hostile to everyone but Thomas, whom she vaguely recognizes from his past life. And he's too busy focusing on escape to develop feelings for her yet.

Second, nothing about the scenario encourages Glade prisoners to be mortal enemies. They have a rule against even hurting each other, apart from wrestling for fun. Only Gally initiates a serious interpersonal conflict, not counting when someone gets a Griever sting. Trust me: There are quite enough casualties anyway.

Third, the movie takes its time revealing anything about the organization to viewers or prisoners. Never mind their name; why are they doing this? It's not punishment or twisted entertainment. We're eventually given to understand that they actually have the greater good in mind, testing the boys for readiness for a still harsher post-apocalyptic world. It's hard to imagine that they picked the best way to go about their experiment, but at least the grown-ups aren't cartoonish villains...I think.

I suppose a fourth difference is that Thomas is no Katniss. He shows no particular skills; it's just that nobody else was so bold, apparently. That makes him about as unimpressive to me as Leonard in the 2001 Planet of the Apes. Nor is O'Brien any Lawrence. He mumbles. And there's a reason I haven't named many characters.

There's still a lot to learn about the maze makers, but I'm no more inclined to tune in to The Scorch Trials than to Catching Fire. One 113-minute visit was enough.