This movie is filled with hipsters: people who spend way, way too much time, thought, and energy on their appearance just to convey the right level of "ironic," or "edgy," or whatever they're hoping will impress people around them. The "best friend" character of the movie wears an annoyingly superior expression for most of the film: the kind that the filmmakers are hoping their key demographic (hipsters) will know and relate to: it's an "I'm so intelligent I don't need to work" kind of expression. ("Also, give me back my food stamps.")
Even from the film's synopsis: "Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation."
"...An artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career," eh? Another hint as to the demographic this film targets.
"Maze" is not clever or funny. It is pretentious. Dave, the film's protagonist (notice how I don't say "hero;" that'd be too dynamic) is shouting at us within the first two minutes of the movie. So, loud is funny? Or, "I'm a genius and I'm really going through a lot right now so everyone give me some space?" That makes me think of that United pilot who arrived late to her flight, out of uniform, and began ranting about her divorce. (This is not a compliment.)
Where the movie deserves praise is its design: lovely, lovely papercraft. There are paper puppets and cardboard cutouts galore, which, combined with stop motion animation, bolsters the innate charm of papercraft. (Also, props to the maze featuring a minotaur.)
But whatever charm the papercraft gives "Maze" is squashed by the pretentious protags, just by them opening their mouths. No one is funny, no one tells funny jokes, everyone reacting to everything with the same reaction ("Oh. Well. Uh, okay—") is tedious (obviously), and the ego of these aging hipsters is both insufferable and sad. Hey, I love surrealistic SF and fantasy, but The Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind this is not.
Even close.
Even from the film's synopsis: "Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation."
"...An artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career," eh? Another hint as to the demographic this film targets.
"Maze" is not clever or funny. It is pretentious. Dave, the film's protagonist (notice how I don't say "hero;" that'd be too dynamic) is shouting at us within the first two minutes of the movie. So, loud is funny? Or, "I'm a genius and I'm really going through a lot right now so everyone give me some space?" That makes me think of that United pilot who arrived late to her flight, out of uniform, and began ranting about her divorce. (This is not a compliment.)
Where the movie deserves praise is its design: lovely, lovely papercraft. There are paper puppets and cardboard cutouts galore, which, combined with stop motion animation, bolsters the innate charm of papercraft. (Also, props to the maze featuring a minotaur.)
But whatever charm the papercraft gives "Maze" is squashed by the pretentious protags, just by them opening their mouths. No one is funny, no one tells funny jokes, everyone reacting to everything with the same reaction ("Oh. Well. Uh, okay—") is tedious (obviously), and the ego of these aging hipsters is both insufferable and sad. Hey, I love surrealistic SF and fantasy, but The Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind this is not.
Even close.