Inception (2010) Movie Review

If you believe in the voting on major movie websites, Inception is the highest rated maze movie of all time. Do I need to write anything after that ? ok…

Inception (2010) IMDB Prime Video

Inception movie poster

At the time of this writing this is the highest rated Science-Fiction movie of all-time on IMDB. It won 4 Oscars, and although it didn’t win, it was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. It has won 153 awards and was nominated for 220 awards according to its IMDB page. So, does this need a review ? No, it is outstanding.

But what is the movie about and how are mazes involved ? Well, the movie revolves around a group of thieves go into dreams to steal corporate ideas from the minds of people. This time they need to plant an idea in a CEO’s head during a dream (what they call an inception). To do this they will need to circumvent the maze of subconscious dream worlds they’ve created - a dream world within a dream world within a dream world. Sounds like that will be easy to execute. And the ending !!! Perfect. 9.5/10

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) Movie Review

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) IMDB Prime Video

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie poster

The fourth Harry Potter movie/book. Let’s get right to the maze portion: At one point Harry and his other competitors(champions in the Triwizard Tournament are stuck in a hedge maze for part 3 of the tournament. A very active hedge maze that seems to be alive. Harry must escape the maze to move forward. I feel like I don’t need to say spoiler before I mention he does escape and there are many more books and movies.

So how is the overall film ? If I am being honest, each of the Harry Potter films is good and worth seeing and this is no exception. What really stands is the creative and interesting world that JK Rowling created in her books. The director here, Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Donnie Brasco) did a nice job bringing the story to the big screen. I would give it a 7.5/10.

Dave Made A Maze (2017) Movie Review

Dave Made A Maze (2017) IMDB Prime Video

Dave Made a Maze movie poster

How many times have you sat down to watch a movie and you already know the story because you have seen it before. Take the body swap movie genre. If you have seen Freaky Friday (any version) you have a good idea what will happen in The Change-Up, 18 Again, Prelude to a Kiss, The Hot Chick and Face/Off. The thing about Dave Made a Maze is that this is a story you probably have never heard/seen. That’s what makes this a good movie. So what is this movie about ?

Dave builds a cardboard fort in his living room. It looks small from the outside, but once you enter it gets much, much larger. Dave gets lost. Dave’s friends join him against his advice to stay outside. Now everyone is lost. To return to civilization they need to band together and escape the cardboard maze. You haven’t seen this, and maybe you don’t THINK you want to see this, BUT YOU NEED TO SEE THIS. Destined to be a cult classic circa 2035. Possibly 2037. I give it a 7.5/10.

Cube (1997) Movie Review

Cube (1997) IMDB Prime Video

Cube maze poster

Today I want to review the 1997 sci-fi mystery classic movie Cube. Any time I sit down to watch a movie I am always looking for a unique story concept and Cube has just that.

6 strangers wake-up in a giant cube shaped maze that is bobby trapped and trying to kill them. They don’t know why they are there or how they got there but they know they need to try and escape. Are they making the right or wrong choice as they choose each passageway ? Only one way to find out. Now this is some maze horror ! And yet the story really resolves around the mystery and the science fiction of the space they are in. I do not know if this is the first movie with this concept, but I believe it is the first big one to use: x # of strangers wake-up in X place and do not what how or why they are there and must overcome x. The original Saw (2004) film starts with 2 strangers, House of 9 (2005) starts with 9 strangers, Unknown (2006) has 5 people, Shadow Puppets (2007) has 8, Nine Dead (2009) has 9 and the list goes on. Cube found a plot device that works and has been copied many times since. For this movie I give it a 7/10. Definitely worth seeing.

Now this movie is part of a trilogy that includes

  1. Cube 2 : Hypercube (2002) IMDB Prime

  2. Cube Zero (2004) IMDB Prime

and

This film was remade by a Japanese director in 2021, with Japanese actors and a new twist that would require a spoiler alert. Cube (2021) IMDB Amzn

Here is a trailer for the original movie: