Haze (2005) Movie Review

Haze (2005) IMDB

Haze (2005) movie poster

When I looked at the Wikipedia page for this movie, it is described as a “mystery horror film”. I really think that describes this movie well. A man wakes up in a concrete passageway and does not know how he got there, or of course where he is. With a little bit of work he finds he is in a concrete maze. From a movie perspective this is a very dark looking movie and the way it is shot makes you feel the claustrophobia of the character. Unfortunately, it also includes what I can only assume is some purposeful shaky camerawork. I did have to look away from the screen a few times during some extra shaky scenes to avoid getting dizzy.

The plot of the movie moves as you think it would. What is happening, and why…with some slow movement crawling throughout the maze. Eventually he meets a woman in the maze and they try to figure out what is happening together. The long version of this movie, which I watched clocks in at 49 minutes, with a short version only 25 minutes long.

I thought the concept was good, but the movie was just ok.

I give it a 5.8/10.

The trailer gives you a good idea of what you would be in for watching the movie:

Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017) Movie Review

Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017) IMDB

Smurfs The Lost Village (2017) movie poster

Here I was minding my business, watching a Smurfs movie because….I’m not sure why I was watching this movie to be honest. Anyway it is an adventure movie that is led by Smurfette (voiced by Demi Lovato) and her quest through the Forbidden Forest with a few pals. And as is the case with any quest a maze or puzzle is part of it, because all good quests need obstacles/things to be overcome to move the story forward. In this movie we have the group caught underground, and lost in what they call mazelike pathways. We never see the maze, only the white of their eyes against a black background, but they say it’s a maze, so since I was not there (I would make a so-so animated character at best), it was a maze. How do they escape ? If you said by riding what looked to be radioactive bunny rabbits out you are the winner winner of a chicken dinner. Other things happen…blah blah Gargamel…blah blah… Papa Smurf…blah blah… Azrael….blah blah…a song and we learned something. The End.

So how is this movie ? Well, exactly how you think it would be. This isn’t the type of movie you stumble upon. You watch it with intention.

I give it a 5.4/10.

Check out the trailer:

Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005) Video Review

Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005) IMDB

Stewie Griffin The Untold Story DVD box cover

I am a fan of Family Guy but had never seen this direct to video movie. It has good reviews so I decided to dive in and see what it was all about, The video is an 88 minute version of the show, with typical cutaways and jokes, It just has a longer developing storyline revolving around Stewie and him meeting himself in the future and how he deals with what he learns.

Overall it is a good video if you like Family Guy, but I oddly felt like the movie was too long. I got tired of all the cut-aways and jokes, something that never happens during a regular episode. So as far as Family Guy goes this is only an average story overall despite some wonderful jokes throughout. Then in the last 5 minutes we get a maze scene with Chris and the West Wing ! I did not expect to see that !

I give it a 7/10.

Check out the opening credits below (no trailer is available that I could find - but many clips are):

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) Movie Review

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) IMDB

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) movie poster

I liked the first Sonic movie and when I heard that the second movie might have a maze in it I was excited to see it also. When it came out I was living in Mexico and my local theaters only had the Spanish language version (normally there is an English version with subtitles), so I waited until it was released on Prime Video to see it.

The movie is what you would expect. Lots of rapidly moving hedgehogs, a fun over the top Jim Carrey, and a story that fits the target audience. Basically, it is a movie worth seeing but it is not going to win any awards, and if you miss it, no worries. As far as the maze scene, I can can confirm it is part of a temple quest in the back/middle of the movie that will remind people my age of the videogame. It is an important plot point and a nice maze. Here is a screenshot of it:

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 maze scene

This is fun for what it is and I am sure kids would sit down and watch it 15+ times.

I give it a 6.345/10.

Check out the trailer below: