Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) Movie Review

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) IMDB Prime Video

Perfume- The Story of a Murderer movie poster

My favorite type of movie is a movie with a story that I haven’t seen before. With a plot device that is unexpected and makes the story feel new. This is one of those movies.

A young boy is born with a sense of smell more powerful than anyone in human history. With it he obsessively works to create the perfect perfume. Unfortunately, that includes some secret ingredients that are against the law. Of course, he finds some of these ingredients when they are lost in a hedge maze. It gets very weird multiple times at the end, but you can’t say it’s something you’ve seen before !

I give it a 7.5/10.

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) Movie Review

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) IMDB Prime Video

Pan's Labyrinth movie poster

Winner of 3 Oscars, including Best cinematography and over 100 movie awards. Let’s just get this out of the way. I give it a 9.5/10. This is an excellent movie that is beautiful to watch, with an interesting fantasy world created by director Guillermo del Toro.

The story is takes us to the year 1944 in Spain (Yes, it is in Spanish) where a young girl escapes a world at war by escaping into a fantasy world at the center of a secret underground labyrinth. The girl meets a faun (totally normal) who takes her to the center of the labyrinth. She learns she can become an immortal princess in this fantasy world but must prove herself first by completing 3 tasks.

Muppets from Space (1999) Movie Review

Muppets from Space (1999) IMDB Prime Video

Muppets From Space movie poster

Who is your favorite Muppets character (other than Kermit) ? For many it is Animal, Beaker or Grover, but for me it is Gonzo. And if you are like me, then this is the film for you because this Muppets movie stars Gonzo in the lead role closely supported by Rizzo the Rat. In my opinion of the 9 Muppets movies that have been made this is middle of the pack.

This story is all about Gonzo looking for his long lost family. What is Gonzo exactly ? Could he be an alien ? This movie explores that along with a few side stories that make it fun for the whole family. As far as mazes go, during a key scene Rizzo gets captured by the bad guys and gets put into a cage with lab rats. I should have said “spoiler” before that. My bad. Anyway the lab rats are put into a rat maze during the next scene, and that’s why this movie is a maze movie.

Will this movie change how you feel about anything important in your life ? Will it make you you think differently about the world and your place in it ? Could this be a film that 30 years from now critics look back on fondly as a masterpiece that slipped thru the cracks ? No, no and no. But feel free to let the kids watch it and be entertained for awhile. You might even hear a few laughs every now and then. 6/10.

The Maze Runner (2014) Movie Review

The Maze Runner is a 2014 film based on the first book from the 5 part best selling book series by James Dasher. Let’s see what this movie is all about.

The Maze Runner (2014) IMDB Prime Video

The Maze Runner movie poster
The Maze Runner Movie Poster - into the maze

So you wake up with no memory of your past trapped with others just like you in an enclosed environment (Seems a bit Cube ish ?). Well, not completely enclosed. There is a maze surrounding you patrolled by cyborgs you need to go thru to escape. You get the chance to solve the maze each morning when a large door opens. That same door closes each night, and if you get stuck in the maze overnight, you die. You don’t know why you’re there or who put you there. Escaping the maze seems like the right move…run.

Although the reviews of this movie are average, I found the movie to be better than that. It isn’t a movie that is going to win any awards…checks….except a few from the MTV Movie + TV Awards, but the story was interesting and kept my attention. I tend to like sci-fi post-apocalypse movies and this is definitely that.

If there is a weakness of the movie it is the why. As the movie unfolds and the group begins to learn what is happening the why of the maze becomes complex….but a bit meaningless. But that is why we have sequels and additional books, because the maze running story is just getting started. 7.5/10 despite a non-ending.