Cube Zero
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Movie Reviews of Cube Zero
Movie Review: If anything deserves to be a sequel to Cube, this is it.
Summary: 4 Stars
I know I should focus only on "Cube Zero" in this review, but it's tough because I watched it (and most others will watch it) with some familiarity with "Cube" and "Cube 2." So, let's get this out of the way now: "Cube 2" was awful. One of the worst movies ever made. Horrible acting, a pathetic excuse for a plot, cheap effects, and a lot of unnecessary scenes. The Cube itself looked like the next in line of Apple products (iTorture)instead of something grisly and frightening, and the people trapped inside were paper-thin caricatures that never really amounted to anything before they died.
When you watch "Cube," you wonder why anybody would think a movie like that needs a sequel. It was a wonderfully existentialist horror movie---creepy, suspenseful, and inexplicable. It was a wonderful puzzle; you watched it for an hour and a half and then you spent weeks trying to think of your own explanations for why it happened. The acting was (mostly) excellent and the set design was wonderful: terrifying and gritty. The violence was kept to a minimum. There was gore, but not a whole lot of it, which means that the focus of the movie was on the suspense, not on the gore. (When a movie has over-the-top death scenes, it's not easy to really pay attention to the plot or characters anymore.)
So now we have "Cube Zero." When I began watching this, I was very worried about what kind of movie it would be. I didn't think there should be another Cube movie, and from the cover of the DVD (and the pictures on the back), it looked like this would just be another hack 'n' slash gorefest.
And for the first twenty minutes that's pretty much all it is. Needlessly gory death scenes and a whole pile of awful, awful acting. I was certain I would hate this movie.
And then something marvelous happened---the movie began to focus on the character of Eric, the technician operating the Cube from the outside. Suddenly, the movie became interesting because it had a plot and suspense and---best of all---GOOD acting. The gore is toned down and doesn't become a problem, and then the story kicks into full gear and becomes a tale of repression and rebellion.
This is why "Cube Zero" gets four stars instead of one. Despite the fact that the leading actress does a bad job and even though there are needlessly cruel death scenes early on in the movie, Eric's story redeems the movie and makes it worth watching---whether you've seen "Cube" or not. I would even say that Eric is the best character out of all of the Cube movies, and I really love the way he is tied in to the first one. The scriptwriter does an excellent job by simply pretending that "Cube 2" was never made, which is a good thing.
"Cube Zero" works because it is like talking to another person about "Cube" and seeing his interpretation of the story instead of just hearing it. It should be watched as a separate entity from "Cube." It's not a sequel or a prequel; it's just one guy's explanation for how "Cube" MAY have come about. And it's a fine story.
And the ending in this one is perfect. It gives you just the right amount of information to extrapolate and come up with your own happy ending or your own depressing ending---just like the first "Cube." I thought there was no way to make a good sequel/prequel to "Cube," but this movie changed my mind.
One last comment---the music video on the DVD is awful. Not only is it a bad song, it also has no place in the movie and really ruins whatever atmosphere the film creates.
Movie Review: A return to form, and a step beyond
Summary: 4 Stars
Cube stands out for me as one of the only films in years that has truly impacted me.....it left me unsettled, creeped, and definitely kept me thinking about it long after the end credits had rolled. Watching it was a true rollercoaster - suspense of the finest quality. Hypercube was a waste of potential. Mediocre acting and a definite case of writers with more ambition than talent. The very definition of squandered potential. Worst of all, there was no suspense, no tension, and the "ah ha!" moments of revelation were anything but exciting.
Cube Zero brings a return to the tension of the first, and does the only logical thing it could do: answer some of the questions raised by its predecessor. Part of the beauty of Cube was the lack of answers, but also a frustration. CZ takes us "behind the scenes" of the monstrosity that is The Cube. It delivers just enough insight into that background to satisfy, but (thankfully) doesn't give it all away, and raises a few more questions of its own.
Orwell's 1984 has obviously always been a heavy influence on Cube, and that influence comes to full flower in CZ. Cinematically, the first film often posed the camera as a real observer, watching the Cube's victims. The theme is expanded upon here naturally and elegantly. Unknown, unseen controllers watching those inside the Cube, themselves being only "button pushers" for the real(?) controllers, who reside upstairs, but who themselves may be just one more layer of the onion.
The acting is fine, no true standouts, although Terri Hawkes makes quite a bit out of a small role as Jellico, one of the Cube's "residents."
A word of strong warning: this movie is extremely graphic. If you've seen the first one, you've seen gore, but some of the scenes in this one will make you think you were watching a Disney movie. I don't generally support that level of graphic content, but it did drive home the brutality of the content in a very powerful way. Those in control of the Cube are sadists, dehumanizing monsters, without question, from frame one of Cube. Cube Zero takes their horrors to a new level, with violence to match. That having been said, some of the "new" traps are positively beautiful in their cruelty, marking a sharp contrast to the often quick-an-dirty nature of those in the first film.
The ending? I won't give anything away, but I will say I saw it coming from the very beginning of the film. But did anyone ever think for a moment that the Death Star wouldn't be destroyed at the end of Star Wars, or that Luke wouldn't be the one to do it? It's the journey that matters, and this journey had every hair on my neck standing on end, and me on the edge of my seat. It has made me want to show it to all of my friends, so I can talk about some of the thoughts it's left in my head. What more can anyone ask?
Movie Review: Prime Numbers and More! -Starting over
Summary: 4 Stars
Ever want to see how thngs begin? Well, be careful that this does not make you a participant in the game. The company that controls the Cube is a tightlipped operation, feeding the thing and keeping it going and recording all the stuff. Two men wathc it, too, and two men are asked simply to observe. This seems fine at first but it soon becomes an issue, and the issue is - simply - feeling pangs of remorse. This leads power some odd roads, shows off the Cube in odd ways, and segways into the new movie. It also says something on the game, the gamers, and some of what is transpiring.
As far as The Cube franchise goes, I really liked it. i liked Cube and I thought Hypercube worked, and this prequel is also a nice entry onto the Cube stage. It has some nice ideas and some nice acting and a scale that makes the first movie seem like it is advancing. Place all the movies into that order and, boom, you have an evolving idea.
along with this, you also have a rating that might be odd. As a movie itself the movie would score lower than a chain movie, with Cube and its sequels not exactly rating the same as Cube versus another title. It would be like comparing Friday the 13th movies. you do those andrank them so why not these?
In this, you have some stuff that is explain but not too much to overwhelm. You also find out about Mr. Prime Numbers in this one, seeing how he got into the first movie as a subject. Also seen are some shades of the way the outside was seen to work, the way the world is, and the secret here. Basically, the Cube eats its young, taking down everything in its path. We knew that before and this says that we do it now. you simply don't ask and you don't get told the answer you dread.
It has a rustic look but not a bad one and the traps are back. The Hypercube hurt a little of that with the way it was set, but the new movie makes up for that with older types of torment. also here are the staples that were in the first movie, with teams of people working through. As a Cube movie I would round to 5. As a movie, round to 4.
Its all what you want. you haven't seen the Cube, do not see this. It will ruin some stuff. See them and see if you like them, providing you give this a chance and realize the budget. I liked it but I like movies like this but I can still say that it isn't bad. Sequels already suffer - it could have had some bad turns that it didn't take and the good stuff makes up for everything else.
3.6 - 4. Not a lot of extras - all Cube movies are like that.
thank you.
Movie Review: Corporate lords of the cube
Summary: 4 Stars
"Cube Zero" is the second sequel to the 1997 Canadian indie horror hit "Cube". The concept in Cube was that a group of strangers were trapped in a never-ending maze of cubes, many of them rigged with lethal traps. They had no idea how they got there, they just knew they desperately needed to get out. It was a very low-budget affair that worked well due to strong acting, interesting philosophical concepts and an original idea. The year 2002 saw the release of Cube2:Hypercube, a decent film that nevertheless succumbed to the law of diminishing returns that are sequels. While entertaining, it offered nothing new and was basically a rehash of the original.
"Cube Zero" finally tries something different, as it gives us a look at the people "behind the cube", those who push the trap buttons and those who are the brains behind the operation. We meet a couple of guys whose job it is to monitor the people inside the cube and to push certain buttons when ordered to do so by their superiors, whom they have never met or seen. Eventually, one of the two guys becomes obsessed with a woman trapped inside and enters the cube himself in an attempt to rescue her.
Although still very much a b-movie, there's a decidedly superior production quality, higher budget, and more special effects this time around. It looks way slicker than any of the previous two cube movies. That being said, it did lack the charming indie vibe of the original. What made the original so good were the characters, how each of them had a special strength and the interesting conversations they had. In this entry aside from the two "Cube Workers" the characters feel flat and underdeveloped.
This "Cube" finally sheds some light on fundamental questions that were previously unexplained in the other two movies such as who is behind the cube, why the people are inside in the first place, what they did wrong that got them in there, etc. Every few minutes something interesting is revealed about the origins of the Cube and that is one of the main reasons it kept me on the edge of my seat. As for the action inside the cube, nothing very original this time, much of the same types of traps and rooms, although the gore scenes were quite creative and very graphic. I must say that I was quite impressed with Cube Zero. Does it give us all the answers? No, but it does give us a whole lot, more than any of the previous two entries combined.
Movie Review: A tekno-slasher, or an allegory for earthly existance?
Summary: 4 Stars
I didn't realise that there had been other "Cube" films (for which this is apparently a sequel.) I suppose it could be written off as a taught, tense slasher film depicting a sadistic police state in our near future. Or is it an allegory for something else?
Perhaps because I had no preconceptions from the earlier films I saw something else. The Cube is an allegory for earthly existance. The first tip was the wiping of memory before being placed in the great sadistic puzzle. Is not our memory of previous existance wiped clean before our incarnation in flesh on earth? Take a look at the nature of the Cube as a series of arduous, painful, even fatal traps that the inmates struggle through. Those that survive do so through teamwork and concern for their fellows. Heroic sacrifice and risk taking is generally rewarded. It is those who show little or no concern for their fellows who meet bad ends. Even the "techs" correspond to those individuals who think that by serving the evil, sadistic powers-that-be that they will be rewarded and protected- when the truth is that they are merely tolerated as long as they are useful- afterwhich they will be fed to the Cube themselves. As for the masters- they are clearly demonic and take great pleasure from their job of running the Cube. They are the Princes of the Earth- masters of the great machine of trial by suffering and hard choices. Yet, they are also capable of breaking the rules- until an even higher power calls them to task.
Finally, what is the last answer to be given if one makes it to the Exit? It is, "Do you believe in God?"
As for the ending, I won't reveal it. But maybe, just maybe, it was a judgement on one who did the right thing, but relied too much on pride in his own intellect and ability instead of the gods. That gives it the final taste of a Greek tragedy.