DAVE MADE A MAZE (2017)

DAVE MADE A MAZE (2017)

Tagline:  He thought of everything, but a way out…

(Adventure, Comedy, Horror) [PG-13]

NOTE: This movie is not given a rating by the MPAA. I think if they checked this out it would probably land in the PG-13 area just due to language. 

Did she die, or did she just turn into a craft project?

This movie is about an artist type who has a hard time finishing projects. He doesn’t even finish the maze which is essentially the center of this whole film. I don’t want to get into too much here, but this maze was built in Dave’s apartment and when his girlfriend Annie gets home, she quickly discovers that Dave is not kidding when he says he’s trapped and can’t find his way back out. Can Dave and his friends discover a way to get out of the maze before they all fall victim to its terror?

If I were reviewing this movie strictly on creativity, it would get about a million rating. This thing is out of control in the creativity department. The maze itself is bonkers and each room inside it is more intricate than the last, each overflowing with an incredible amount of effort and ingenuity. I mean this thing is freakin brilliant. The entire maze is made of cardboard that was donated by American Apparel (who lost interest in helping after 3 weeks) and Solar City (who picked up the slack), shops in the area where the movie was made. So yeah, this massive production effort didn’t cost anything regarding the cardboard, which is basically everything. 

Where this movie drops the ball is in the bizarre and funny, but often just weird script. Some of this thing I just thought could have been a lot better with a few scenes either completely re-written or left out altogether. When I say weird, it has the idea of the kind of weird that ruins things. This could have been a masterpiece but parts of it sadly feel so completely out of place it’s damaging in the end result. 

What does work is that the actors all seem like they aren’t acting at all? For this production, it works perfectly because this is probably something that while completely insane seemed realistic in regards to the reactions of the people going into the maze, but there is an issue. I didn’t care for Dave (played by Nick Thune) who comes across as mostly a jerk, but I am sure this is how the director wanted the character to act, so I am not blaming Nick. James Urbaniak mostly known for his voice work in “The Venture Bros” TV show is also pretty solid in this, but unfortunately plays another jerk. When you start taking this across the script to everyone but Anne and the boom operator for a film crew who is trying to make a bit of a movie out of this whole situation, you can see where the script fails. After all, this was supposed to be a comedy, we should like someone. 

The boom operator, by the way, is played by Frank Caeti who is pretty cool in this as is Meera Rohit Kumbhani who plays Dave’s girlfriend Anne. She’s done mostly indie stuff but also did some voiceover work for MARVEL is pretty solid in this.

I think this movie could have been near perfect if it wasn’t so poorly written in some parts. Having said that there are some really interesting concepts in this and like I mentioned earlier, the creativity is off the charts. For that reason, some may want to check this out. For me, it lands at a 3 out of 7 but could have easily been a lot higher if had been written well. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF DAVE MADE AN LLC. AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.