Tuesday, December 05, 2017

Cube²: Hypercube (2002)

Some movies are great and are meant to be left as is.  Cube was just such a movie.  You had several prisoners in a large cube divided into smaller cube-shaped rooms.  Who captured them and why?  The characters could only guess.  Unfortunately, several more movies were made.  From what I can tell, there’s even a remake in the works.  Sigh.  Oh, well.

Enter Cube 2 or Cube Squared or Hypercube.  Eight characters find themselves in various well-lit rooms.  They come together to try to figure out what’s going on.  Again, they’re hiding secrets and numbers abound.  Is there a means of escape?  Possibly.  Oh, and everyone seems to have some connection to the same company.  Coincidence?  Probably not.

I’m not going to go too much into the plot mostly because there isn’t one.  This is a pale imitation of the first movie.  It’s worth noting that there’s absolutely no connection between the two movies.  None of the characters return.  I don’t think any of the people behind the cameras return.  The director is different.  I don’t think anyone involved in writing was the same.

Cube was an independent movie.  It had that low-budget, gritty feeling you’d expect.  This had a more Hollywood feel.  It was bright and slick and perfectly average.  It had a few science terms thrown in for cred.  The traps seem more tame, even if they’re trying to be more imaginative.  For instance, rooms can move at different rates of time.  There also appear to be timelines, meaning the same character can be killed a few dozen times.  One character has his eye stabbed out, only to live for many years.  This, despite the lack of obvious food.

While watching the movie, the word ‘insipid’ came to mind.  I had to look it up to make sure it was the right word.  I got two definitions:  “Lacking flavor” and “Lacking vigor or interest”.  For all its fancy science terms and bright lights, Cube 2 lacks any sort of reason to watch it.  The reason Cube worked was that it was simple.  Rather than go for flash, it went for substance and it did it well.

It’s almost like two people were given the basic plot for the story with various character sketches and plot twists and were told to write a movie.  You have rooms in a large cube, several people kidnapped, someone who was involved in making the trap and a potential for escaping, although most of the characters won’t.  Cube was the clear winner whereas Cube 2 was an honorable mention.  It should have been left alone.


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