Review of Cube (1998) by James S — 09 Jan 2013

You have to have a certain amount of respect for Vincenzo Natali's Cube. For a start it shows that you can create a sci-fi movie on a budget and that you can mine some great tension drenched scenes out of one four walled set.

Several individuals wake up to find themselves in a four walled room with six hatches leading off it. They don't know why they're there or how they got where they are. Quick exploration of their surroundings leads them to deduce they are prisoners in a structure made up of similar rooms, some of which contain a very grim death.

Cube makes good use of the confusion of its characters surroundings in its early going and throws in it's two goriest moments near the beginning. It is with a little disappointment that we don't get to see too many of the traps that are lying around the bunch but Cube moves on to being a much more character based film than a sci-fi shocker.

The dialogue and single location feel of Cube lends itself to seeming more like a play than a film. That's not to say that the dialogue is good because it isn't. Characters joking about going out for dinner isn't really believable here.

Stemming from this is Cube's principle problem. It features a rich and varied character set, all named after different prisons around the world, none of whom are even remotely likeable. A film like this which is hanging on its audience engaging with the characters needs at least one that we don't wish gets trapped forever in the seemingly neverending maze.

I think the heroine of the piece is supposed to be Nicole de Boer's teenage maths whizz Leaven. Unfortunately she comes across as an egotistical smart ass bully. Maurice Dean Wint's bad guy Quentin is enjoyable but increasingly makes rash decisions which seem out of place. Some films could maybe disguise these character shortcomings but when you're placing your protagonists as closely under the microscope as Cube does, there's no escape.

There are a couple of really good scenes travelling around the cube structure. One in particular featuring a sound related trap is very well done and the finale builds nicely as more about the cubes themselves are revealed without giving too much away.

Cube is hailed in some circles as a science fiction masterpiece but that's being way over generous. Yes, it uses sci-fi conventions to great effect and is a tremendous result from such a budget but it's let down by unnatural dialogue and unlikeable characters.

It could be argued that only characters of such personas would find themselves in such a situation but we're never given that explanation so it's left up to the audience to decide for themselves.

Cube is certainly an interesting film but it's not polished enough to be a great one as well.