Rating: 2.5/5
CW // Assault, Ableism, Mental Illness, Suicide, Torture, Sexism, Blood, Dismemberment, Sex
NOTE: By necessity, this will contain spoilers for Cube. If you do not want it spoiled, do not read this review. I will not spoil Cube².
Bodies wrapped in cellophane, strapped to hospital gurneys.
Rebecca opens her eyes, recalling scenes from a science lab. She wanders through a white cube. Each of the six surfaces has eight panels, all glowing white. The ninth panel in the center of each surface has a hatch. Each panel interconnects with bars that allow her to climb up the walls.
She enters another room through one hatch. As though gravity itself inverted, she pulls up and slams against the ceiling.
Thomas opens a hatch, looking for the serial numbers that show the positioning of the room relative to the grid. He isn’t wearing a shoe — he has tested a room for a trap. However, it differs from the prison in Cube. This is a H Y P E R C U B E.
I want a chance! Don't I get a chance like the others?
Kate finds Simon passed out. He stirs, pulling a knife on her and pinning her down. Each of the hatch doors open. Max appears at each door. Kate slips away and opens the door Max went through. However, there is no one there. The hatch closes behind her. She goes to open it, and now Simon is gone.
Going through more rooms, Kate finds Sasha curled up in the corner. Sasha is blind and horrified. Jerry crawls up through the floor. Despite hours of roaming, he has only discovered four rooms. A “Lost smoke monster” type noise erupts just above them.
Jerry craws through a panel to find Max trying to stop Thomas from hanging himself. Everyone we’ve met thus far comes into the room and helps Max. They learn Thomas is a colonel for the Department of Defense. Thomas has bruises all over his body, and there are cigarette burns on his palm.
Finally, a hatch opens, and Mrs. Paley comes through. She asks where the showers are, thinking she’s in a health club. The noise erupts again. Sasha says:
It's coming closer
Straight away, the substantially lower budget is clear. The cubes are simpler in design. To avoid complex math for room positioning in the tesseract, every room is the same.
The performances are similarly stilted to Cube, and the script is as weak.
I am highly tolerant of cheap special effects, especially when they serve a function that would be impossible in practical effects. This movie has a bit of each, so it’s a mixed bag. If you can tolerate the effects, they’re the best part.
Simon performs the same role as Quentin in the first movie — he’s needlessly violent. But his motivations are more confusing.
Overall, if you think of Kafka instead of Neal Stephenson, you’ll appreciate some of it.