Cube 2 - Hypercube
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Movie Reviews of Cube 2 - Hypercube
Movie Review: 2 Cube or not 2 Cube, that is the question
Summary: 4 Stars
If you love science, (mostly physics) the CUBE 2 is the movie for you...I love the way time folds in on itself and space warps around everyone in the rooms.
Where else can you come face to face with yourself?
I did find the white rooms a little benine, other than that, it's a great movie for the science-minded person.
Movie Review: Best of the 'Cube' movies
Summary: 4 Stars
This one is 'cleaner' than the previous... and kinda 'mind-warping'. Some really bizzar-reality parts... in a good way. But trying to wrap your mind around how the cubes, and everyone and everything in them, work... well, good luck. : ) Oh yeah... surprise ending, too.Movie Review: Great sequal but no CUBE
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great sequal to The Cube but like most sequals it falls short it's predissor. Over all great film, but to much CGI, hopefully Cube III will improve these flaws.Movie Review: "My head, man! I lost my fu----g head!"
Summary: 3 Stars
I liked that the first Cube was ambitious enough or ornery enough to end with most of its mysteries intact. If you're like me, then maybe you won't mind that this sequel somewhat adheres to that philosophy. CUBE 2: HYPERCUBE doesn't try to change things up too much, still coming with that same claustrophobic premise. Eight strangers are trapped in a series of deadly, constantly shifting cube-shaped rooms and must work together to find a safe exit. Somewhere along the way, we learn a secret or two about these characters. Also somewhere along the way, one or two will crack and go postal.
Like most folks, I don't dig this one quite as much as I did the first CUBE, which was so good back in 1997 that it's attained cult classic status. First flaw: not too surprisingly, CUBE 2 is essentially a rehashing of the original so it doesn't register as highly on the freshness meter. Second thing is that, although it's all over the sci-fi aspect or maybe the hard math aspect, CUBE 2 simply isn't as strong in its horror sensibilities, compared to the original or the third entry Cube Zero. The rooms here don't bristle with the same level of lethal gristliness. In fact, these cubes may be more elaborately designed but not every chamber is a death trap waiting to be sprung. If memory's in my corner, the very few murder constructs to surface were rendered via weakly realized CG and I just couldn't take them seriously.
And while the math tutorial isn't as pronounced, there's plenty of talk regarding temporal anomalies, parallel realities, and quantum teleportation, which to me amounts to a cr@pload of scientific double talk. Basically, introducing the quantum physics element means that the Cube now extends into the fourth dimension, resulting in doppelgangers and rooms which either defy gravity or exist at varying time speeds. Interesting stuff, but I'd rather have more gory kill scenes, please.
The cast is good enough that you do get invested in how things turn out for several of them, or at least I did. These are low pedigreed actors, with perhaps Geraint Wyn Davies qualifying as the most familiar face (he was the lead in FOREVER KNIGHT). As with the first movie, the most dangerous factor in the Cube turns out to be the prisoners themselves. It's really not too hard to pick out the movie's psychotic loose cannon. And, as per usual in these enclosed environments, the gradual dissolution of the group dynamics is fascinating to watch.
There's an attempt to explain the origin of the Cube, but it's half-heartedly done and, ultimately, we're left almost as much in the dark as before, and I happen to like this. I relish that the sense of enigma is retained, that things aren't clarified perfectly. I think the Cube series works better as a sort of existential metaphor. CUBE ZERO happens to be better than this sequel, but I resented that it went behind the scenes of the cube construct.
All in all, I grudgingly enjoyed this movie, managing to stick around all the way thru, mostly because I was curious about the fates of certain characters. But, yeah, CUBE 2 has it share of pitfalls. It strives for a more ambitious story but instead muddies things up with abstract quantum babble. Late in the flick, there's a bizarro makeout session that had me scratching my head. And then comes that weak twist to end the movie. Character-wise, I developed a dislike for the insufferably perky old woman wracked with some sort of dementia. I'm probably going to hell, but when that crazy old woman buys it, I'm saying she had it coming. And her little dog, too.
Other than those miscues... good movie. Sort of.
Movie Review: Solid Sequel to a Cult Classic
Summary: 3 Stars
"Cube 2: Hypercube" is a surprisingly effective and thought-provoking sequel to the 1997 cult classic, "Cube."
In many ways, the fact that the sequel even exists is a testament to the power of the home video market. After all, the first "Cube" didn't exactly break box office records. If it was released in theaters at all it must have only been on a limited basis. But after coming out on video and DVD, it became something of a word of mouth phenomenon as viewers who'd been blown away by it rushed to recommend it to friends.
In fact, no less a notable film critic than Roger Ebert even praised the film on his show, "At the Movies," noting that he'd gotten e-mails urging him to check it out. That film's success in the secondary market was clearly big enough to prompt the sequel.
Not surprisingly, the basic plot here is identical to the first film. A group of strangers awaken to find themselves trapped in a mysterious cube containing several interlocking rooms. They have no memory of how they got there or who is responsible for the cube's existence.
As with the first film, each character's motivations, skills, possible connections to the cube, and hidden traits are revealed as the film progresses. And of course, this cube also contains it's own share of lethal traps.
Though one character makes a brief reference to the "first one," "Cube 2" is a self-contained film and seeing the first movie isn't essential to enjoying this one.
If anything, the movie is actually more ambitious than the first film. Where the first cube was basically a huge machine with shifting rooms, the Hypercube is rooted in quantum physics technology that allows it to fold space and time. As the prisoners move from room to room they begin to experience space and time shifts that keep them off balance and guessing about where and when they'll wind up next.
The DVD release contains a surprisingly exhaustive documentary on the making of the film, an interview with director Andrzej Sekula and deleted scenes. Surprisingly, one key deleted scene actually reveals the origins of the Cubes but since this scene was excised from the final release don't be surprised if this story element never rears its head in the inevitable "Cube 3."
Some fans will doubtless complain about this film's overly talky nature and the fact that it is less violent and action-packed than "Cube." This is not a "park your brain at the door" type of movie, but if you're up for the challenge, this film offers more than its share of rewards.
Though the character types are, in some cases, too reminiscent of those from the first film, the cast of mostly unknown actors does an able job of fleshing them out.
Both these actors and the behind the scenes personnel, deserve credit for crafting a well-made, ambitious sequel that aims to break new ground rather than walk that already covered by the original film.
And though I still prefer the brutal simplicity of the first movie, "Cube 2: Hypercube" is a better than average sequel that stands as a worthy installment of what looks likely to be an ongoing film franchise.