There's much more here than I thought there was...

Rating: 8/10 (13 April 2003)

"There is no conspiracy. Nobody is in charge. It's a headless blunder operating under the illusion of a master plan. Big brother is not watching you."
Cube is one of those rare films that looks like one thing but is really something else. Originally I thought it was this pointless horror film that had no message in it other than "it takes place in a cube." And while it looked interesting, I passed it over.
Now, after hearing that the Sci-fi channel made a sequel, I figured I should give this movie a chance. And I'm glad I did. While the acting may be a tad over the top every now and then, this is the kind of gung-ho, money is an object, radical statement driven piece that we haven't seen the like of since star wars (although I think this has a better message). Made on a shoe string budget, with b actors, this movie still holds a lot of water. And although it has the characteristics of horror and sci-fi, it's not trying to be too much of anything. It is what it is, a cube in a room that is a cube, with doors that are cubes with 6 people (one who dies early on) representing the six sides of the cube. And it doesn't matter who built it or why, because there is no one person to blame. They all are part of the cube for the same reason. Each one of them is responsible in their own way.

"big brother is not watching you..."
I think my only complaint with this movie is the ending...which I won't give away. But it seems very forced, unlike the rest of the movie which really is a puzzle for both the players and the audience. You're not sure what's going to happen next, and you can't take a good guess because each room (despite the color) looks exactly the same as the next. (it's almost hard to believe this movie was made using only 1 and a half cube sets and in a three week shoot.
In conclusion. Do not go into this film with a preconceived notion of what it's about, because you will be wrong. Don't try to ask too many questions of why is there and what it's purpose is, because the answer doesn't matter. it just "is", just like the world around us. You can't explain why a thing is the way it is (i.e. the world) "within the box" (i.e. in our world), because the solution and the problem are the same thing. The cube exists simply because we exist.
"Why put people in it?" "because it's here. You have to use it or admit it's pointless." "but it is pointless!" "That's my point."