Review of Cube Zero (2004) by Peter E — 12 Sep 2008

Cube was a brilliant example of a young director with no money making the best of that to pull something hugely original out of the bag. It didn't explain a whole lot and that was part of its charm, and a huge factor in it being so memorable.

After Cube 2 being a bit of a retread (albeit in a fancier cube) this prequel strives to answer all the questions once and for all. The answers aren't particularly bad, and its a conclusion many would have come to anyway after seeing the first movie, but whether you see this movie as a worthy addition to the series will depend on whether you really want those questions answered. Personally I found that after all the post-movie pub debates the first movie caused, to have everything spelled out and definitively revealed was a deflating experience. The direction here is pretty duff too, there's no flair and it can look horribly like one of those "Universal Soldier" TV movies at times. The traps themselves aren't too imaginative either, being variations on traps already used in the first film (with one nicely gory exception).

So really, its worth a watch if you're desperate to have your questions answered (and there's a nice twist to tie things together), but for those who felt the first movie worked best as a "Twilight Zone" style anomaly it won't satisfy. Besides, as its a different writer (the original wisely left Cube alone and made the brilliant "Cypher") there's no guarantee the explanations are even what the original creator intended.