Cube 2

la saison de n'est pas encore sorti ou bien

A well paced film, regrettably destitute of adequate substance to justify its pacing in the first place. The film appears 'clinical' by all aesthetic inspections, but it's just bright light. Boring bright light. Sadly this film trails distantly upon the heels of its infamous predecessor, "Cube", and fails to deliver a single morsel of the miasma and inspiration that is, simply put, the result of hard working frustrated budget film making. The cast is forgettable, the effects are so prosaic and ordinary they barely register, and do well to accommodate the actors' approach to the script, that swiftly descends into a flat-lining melodrama. Another one for the video stores, but worth seeing simply for sake of bewilderment. Insincere performances plague the story that is otherwise undoubtedly fascinating to those inclined to logic and suspended logic: an old woman with a probable vat of (evil) all-knowing masquerading as a mental disorder; a ruffian Sgt Barnes with a big fist and an even bigger attitude; a fourteen year old blind girl who happens to be God; a horny whiz kid; a seductress in a red dress; and all the rest have thankfully escaped memory. It has the simplicity of a cartoon, posturing above the radical theorising of the tesseract and fourth dimensional travel. By the middle of the film, all universal laws of the three dimensional human world are broken, as parallel universes flood the hypercube with a deluge of characters believed to be already dead. If it's a revelation of morality you're after, this might not be quite the thing as it undermines and subverts all basic tenets of value and goodness to the possibilities of near infinity – a pitfall into a mirror room of conscienceless murder, romance and panic. However, this idea is barely heeded in the excess of rather short-sighted visual horrors that do more to ridicule than to stun. And to add insult to already monolithic injury, Hypercube's final scene epitomises everything "Cube" intentionally set out to avoid. While the hypercube itself exists in a place well and truly beyond the three dimensions of the world as we know it, the cast and the story's realisation barely manage to make it in to the first.

This film sucks. It's is one of the most pointless movies i've ever seen. The original Cube was intended as a low budget one off ... Cube 2 is merely a high budget sequel that doesn't make sense. POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT. Sure, the physics seem to stand up from my rather limited knowledge but the characters truely just bug me. No, they IRRITATE me and as a result not only do I not care about whether they get out ... i'm actually waiting for them to die. I have major problems with certain early scenes where everyone seems to be yelling at once. It's dull to watch and painful to listen to. The dialogue is really bad in places ... just listen to some of the rubbish that they say and wonder who in their right mind actually speaks that way in real life. It's totally unrealistic. I have major problems dealing with a later scene where two of the characters "get it on". If I was stuck in a life or death situation i'm sure that sex would be the last thing on my mind. Nah, not for this film. Instead we're treated to an effects laden sex scene which appeared to be almost entirely for titillation. In the original film, not only did the characters each have an individual skill to contribute so that they could get out, but their character names reflected actual prison names too. Not so here, we've got a doctor, a senile mathmatician, a computer games designer, a lawyer and a P.I. Hmmm, I don't think that this motley crew could find their way out of a paper bag. The character introductions feel artificial and forced. It seems the scriptwriter couldnt think of a good way to do it. He/She might as well have had the actors turn to the camera and introduce themselves! However, the sound and effects design are pretty good. I don't think the music gives the same feel as the excellent score for the original but i'd still listen to it. This still doesn't stop bad script and bad acting making this a real turkey.

"Cube 2: Hypercube" is a weak and confusing entry after such a great original. **SPOILERS** Waking up alone, Kate Filmore, (Kari Matchett) Simon Grady, (Geraint Wynn Davies) Sasha, (Grace Lynn Kung) Max Reisler, (Matthew Ferguson) Jerry Whitehall, (Neil Crone) Tom McGuire, (Bruce Gray) and Mrs. Paley, (Barbara Gordon) each find themselves trapped in a large structure together. Trying to determine a way out of the structure, they find it is a series rooms with weird numbers scratched all over the walls. Discovering that they are in a hypercube, which has four dimensions across it and can fold back in on itself, which forces them to believe that an alternate reality is inside, as well as their self. Forced to take action, they try to solve the riddle of the cube and escape before they're killed off. The Good News: There isn't a whole lot here to really like. The hyper-dimensionality allows for a lot of fascinating ideas to play around with. Gravity operates at a different angle in some rooms, time operates at a different pace in other rooms so that at time, they see other people alternately sped up or slowed down, and of course, doors open up into alternate realities and points in time, which allows them to constantly meet different versions of themselves. In one simply fascinating scene, one of the characters opens a door and sees them-self staring back. Reaching out to grasp the hand, another character appears from behind, kills the parallel version before being wiped out by a wall of crystalline shapes. It's a compulsively fascinating moment that works quite effectively for it's creativity. Another scene shows on of them stabbing a character in the eye, only to then turn around and encounter them on the other side of the room a moment later, having aged several years and seeking revenge. Outside of these great ideas, the film is pretty hollow. The Bad News: There's a lot here that doesn't work. As a whole, this is a mess of a movie. It differs so much from the original that it's almost in a different series, with only the main premise and the cube structure remaining. Gone are the numerous, and quite cool, traps from the original, replaced here with a trap that will spring only if too much time is spent in a room rather than being the structure of the room itself, and in their place is a much too talky, confused, and poorly written movie. Not once does it fall together so that a simply answer can be arrived at that will explain everything, and instead, it just chooses to get more and more incoherent ending up being way too complicated for its own good. Even the traps that do spring up aren't that great, being simply a multiplying square that morphs into a spinning shape, not at all that creative or impressive. The laser-wall isn't that bad, but otherwise, the traps in here are barely worth mentioning, not being that great at all and nowhere near the inventiveness or cruelty of the originals. The extreme amount of down-time in here is also a problem, since it takes nearly forever for the film to get going. After introducing themselves, it takes nearly forty minutes before the first trap is sprung, and that's far too long to be standing around arguing with each other. That's the main gist of the middle of the film, long sequences of everyone arguing about what each clue supposedly means or where each person came from. This is a downer and makes the middle seem like it takes forever, and coupled with the weak, confusing story and lack of inventive traps, really brings this down. The Final Verdict: With a couple of decent scenes and ideas thrown in, this is a really hard movie to recommend to anyone. Fans of the original might like it, but it only has to be the most forgiving fans to do so. If you want to really watch it, watch it before seeing the original or not back-to-back, the differences will be quite startling. Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence and Brief Nudity

This is a truly bad sequel to the inventive and imaginative 'Cube'. It just feels like a made-for-TV, straight to the DVD bargain bin rehash of the first film. It doesn't have any atmosphere - getting rid of the dark metal and coloured lighting makes it look more like a trendy wine bar than a twisted death machine! Plus, why are the characters so unafraid? Kate (the psychotherapist) constantly smiles and acts like they're on some kind of office team-building event. It almost seems like waking up in a cube is not a new or frightening experience for them, "oh, right, we're in a cube again, how boring". Another major problem with the film lies in the main 'psycho' of the group Simon. He is basically a replica of Quentin the cop from the first Cube, but without any of the character development or motive. In the first film it does seem a little extreme when Quentin starts murdering people but at least he's had a few arguments with them first. Simon just starts killing people for fun - you can't kill an old woman because her Alzheimer's annoys you!! The film disappointed from the start. In the original there was a gruesome death scene within 2 minutes of the start. In 'Hypercube' the intro sequence is a boring overhead shot of people lying in hospital beds and then you have to wait an hour for the first death. Overall the film feels like a bigger budget, lower impact remake/rip-off of the original with no excitement, enthusiasm or interest.

Virtually a scene-by-scene remake of the original Cube, Hypercube offers little that's new. We still have a bunch of people stuck inside identical looking rooms trying to get out. The actors feel slightly more professional this time, but the characters are carbon copies of the previous ones - so what's the point really? To make matters worse, they've got rid of what made Cube fun to watch, i.e. the traps. Instead we get some increasingly dodgy rantings about forth dimensions. There are attempts at trying to explain more about the cube and its purpose, but in the end no-one's any wiser. And to add injury to insult - there are some really bad computer effects in this one, the kind that just takes you right out of the film. The fascinating premise from the first film still saves this from being a complete disaster, but if you've seen the original there's really no need to see this one. [2/10]

Hyper is a prefix meaning "over". It has a common meaning of the extreme of a thing. So, if "Cube" was good then "Hypercube" should be great. Right? Wrong. Everything was wrong with this. All of the things that made "Cube" endearing were totally lacking in "Hypercube". This time there were ten people in the cube except they only focused on six of them. There was the misplaced alpha male, Simon (Geraint Wyn Davies), who is only there to create conflict. The ultra-protective nurturing doctor, Kate (Kari Matchett), who's there to help everybody. Two handicapped persons, Sasha (Grace Lynn Kung) and Mrs. Paley (Barbara Gordon), both whom were typical burdens until their function was revealed. Two engineer types, Max (Matthew Ferguson) and Jerry (Neil Crone), both whom were unwitting participants in the creation of the cube. I think that covers the very same characters that were in the first version. There were a few other ancillary characters thrown in there but their purposes were insignificant and more-or-less a diversion. Ten cube captives in all and ten terrible actors. The cube itself was a suped up version of its predecessor and it wasn't any better. It was like the classic car that's stripped of its original parts and replaced with a bunch of gaudy upgrades. It may look shinier and newer but it doesn't hold the same value. This cube was a CGI nightmare. Now it moved silently and had a bunch of cartoonish ways of killing the cube members. I know that CGI was still a relatively new toy in 2002 but it cheapened the movie and made it less likable. Even the story was a sham. They tried to give us a little more information while still leaving us guessing. It did nothing to enhance the plot. If I were to run down a checklist grading this movie here's what it would look like: Acting: exaggerated version of all the characters in part one, all more terrible. Story: More convoluted than the first. The cube: Hyperized. In attempts to make it more uncrackable they made it more absurd. My math isn't good enough to get me out of a cube but I know when things don't add up. Poor acting, poor story and a cheap set equals bad movie.

First off, don't bother seeing this until you've seen Cube. You wouldn't miss much if you did, but you won't appreciate & enjoy it nearly as much. I heard this was more of a remake than a sequel, but actually it's a straight-out sequel. Again, a seemingly random group of people are abducted and imprisoned in a possibly enormous matrix of anonymous Cube-shaped rooms, with doors in all six surfaces, and a number of fiendish & deadly booby traps (and scary noises). Hypercube (moving on from Cube) adds gravity, time and parallel universe traps into the mix. It's good because: it's broadly similar to Cube, which was excellent. You're not immediately sure who will be standing at the end. The special effects are a bit 'clean' looking, but very smart. And there are some funny moments in this one. But it's not brilliant because: the plot is a little too clear (and simple), whereas Cube really worked because it was unexplained and ambiguous. The characters seemed to fit the same sort of roles as in the first movie. And there's a fair bit of hammy over-acting, deliberate comedy, and a curious lack of desperation & fear (whereas Cube was superb in all these respects). There are a lot of well-intentioned sequels which (by their very nature) cannot string you along with the same 'fear of the unknown' in the original, and this is the case here. I also believe that having access to a bigger budget for a sequel is often a bad thing, since it's easier to go for flashy special effects at the expense of story, acting & dramatic tension - as in this case. (brilliant opening credits though) But Hypercube - although not as good as Cube - does work as 'next step' sort of sequel. I was just surprised I laughed so often, without it ruining the film for me. If they make a third one (the ending does indicate that they could), they should spend the vast part of the budget on a really good concept/script & director, get really-good-but-unknown STAGE actors (Hypercube came across as more of a soap-opera level of acting), and go back to the ingeniously wicked & creative traps a la Cube - because the CGI route does not look like a road worth following any further..

Cube 2 is in many respects just a clone of the original Cube movie. Suppose you haven't seen that movie yet and consider watching this more recent version, which would probably be cooler because it has a larger budget and CGI... don't! Watch the original instead. If you like it, watch Cube Zero afterwards. Don't watch this one unless you really ache for more Cube- stuff. There are many things about Hypercube that don't work. Overall, it feels like a bad remake of an old classic. This is not surprising because that's exactly what it is, except for the fact that the original isn't really 'old' yet, it only predates this movie by 5 years. 'Cube 2' is populated by almost exactly the same characters as the first movie. The premise is also the same, even though they added an extra 'dimension' (literally). Of course it also differs from the original Cube in some ways. First, the complexity of the way in which the original 'cube' could be solved, is replaced by a simple concept which is made to look complex by means of cool-sounding terminology and random mathematical formulas. In the original movie, someone familiar with mathematics could follow the lines of thought of the characters, and people unfamiliar with maths could still feel that there was something substantial to it. In Cube 2, nobody understands what's happening, and this seems to include the makers of the movie themselves. Next, the original movie featured some gruesome yet inventive ways in which many of the characters died, involving traps with wires, fire, acid and so on. In 'Cube 2', characters are killed by computer graphics -- literally. If you expect more of the visceral gore like in Cube, you'll be heavily disappointed. Moreover, the effects looks cheap and dated. They're so obviously synthetic that it's distracting. Finally, there's a whole set of fresh actors. Unfortunately, the acting is rather bad. Unlike in the original 'Cube', I didn't care about any of the characters. Some even irritated me to such a degree that I wanted them to die quickly. 'Cube 2: Hypercube' feels as if somebody thought the original 'Cube' could be improved by throwing a bigger budget to it, and a crew which is skilled and has good tools, but has no clue of what made the original so good. It's a bit as if they just learned about the concept of a hypercube and found it so cool, that they thought a movie mostly based on this concept would be equally cool.

(* Includes Spoilers *) After seeing the original Cube, this movie is pretty bad. The people in the first movie actually all had to work together to get out of the Cube. And each one had a specific talent that made up the puzzle in getting out of it (i.e. no one person could get out alone). In this new movie the concept is the same but is never developed! People are just mindlessly roaming from room to room with no plan. The older woman supposedly has superior mathematical ability that should be able to decipher what the number 60659 means in each room, but she is too senile to do so! She's also quite annoying and adds nothing to the movie. The blind girl was suppose to blow the whistle on the whole thing, but is found out before doing so, so she escapes into the Hypercube. Never mind the fact that even though she can barely move from room to room due to her blindness, she has miraculously waltzed into the Hypercube! Traps have no logic to them, other then the eye candy factor. The ending: very weak and it doesn't make sense. Overall, a very disappointing movie to the first. Rating: 3/10