DOUBLEFEATUREPREACHERS
  • Home
    • David's Reviews
    • Shannon's Reviews
    • DFP Reviews
  • Browse
  • About
  • Contact

Dave Made a Maze - C

7/2/2018

0 Comments

 
​Quick Hit: Goofy, inventive, and watchable but not quite developed enough. 
Picture
I first found out about this movie from a Cracked article from an inventive series about upcoming movies. I frankly had to watch a movie that included an entire maze built inside a man’s apartment that entirely consists of cardboard – including cardboard monsters. And while I was admittedly fairly entertained by the movie, I was also left wanting more in the terms of development and characterization – as those on film twitter are known to say, a great idea does not a great movie make. But in my opinion, decent movies can be made on that idea.
​
Dave Made A Maze has the simplest of plots – and I’ve literally described most of it already. The gist is that he gets lost in the maze and has to have his friends and girlfriend come and rescue him. What follows is what you expect, plus a few more goodies – one of Dave’s friends is making a documentary about the experience in the maze, and oh by the way, the monsters are real. What follows is some really inventive storytelling in visual fashion – the characters often encounter things that change them from live action to different things, like paper bags – that is extremely fun and amusing. There’re also some visual reminders of films like Raiders of the Lost Arc, which is a nice shout out to influences.
Picture
What’s unfortunate is that a film that gets all the visuals right gets a lot of other things wrong.

For instance, the story doesn’t really have much going for it. Dave is the epitome of all slackers in that he “gets really excited about things but doesn’t ever finish”. And while we’ve all felt that way about particular tasks (I for one feel that way with my fiction writing), giving him a complete blank slate doesn’t work here, because I think very few of us think we could build this maze in our apartment. A blank slate works because you can project your entire being on them, and Dave is only part of that. As far as the other characters, they’re pretty much all clichés, which limits their effectiveness as well.

I also think the film as a few asides, that, while entertaining, don’t really serve much purpose to the overall story. I like the discussion between Dave and Annie where they continue to switch costumes and looks, but I can’t say I really understand the reason for the conversation. Particularly when a movie runs a scant eighty minutes, you need to capitalize on each moment.

The music in this movie never really raises above fine, though, as mentioned previously, most of the effects are pretty good for what they are. 
Picture
So when all things are considered, Dave Made a Maze is an amusing film that could have been better with more characterization. I’m going to give it a “C” grade.
​
For more on this film, check out IMDB.
 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    David

    ​"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" 
                      -Jack Torrance                         (Shining)

    Categories

    All
    Action
    Animated
    Based On A True Story
    Comedy
    Crime
    Drama
    Family
    Fantasy
    Horror/Thriller
    Musical
    Mystery
    Romance
    Science Fiction
    Superhero
    Western

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
    • David's Reviews
    • Shannon's Reviews
    • DFP Reviews
  • Browse
  • About
  • Contact