One-dimensional characters trapped in a three-dimensional environment

Rating: Null/10 (24 March 1999)

"Cube" is a concept piece. It thinks it can exist simply on the strength of its concept. It thinks it can ignore conventions like character, dialogue and dramatic momentum.
The problem it faces is that because its concept is so minimalist it actually needs to pay even more attention to these other conventions than your average film - there is simply nothing else to keep you interested. The "concept" keeps you engaged for about five minutes, then you rapidly lose interest (the opening sequence would play very well as a short film, it's gruesome in an amusing way - unfortunately this sense of humor is not evident at all in the remainder of the "concept").
The dialogue and the characters are astonishingly bland. For a "concept" that prides itself on the complexity of its three-dimensional environment the actors are remarkably one-dimensional, capable only of spewing out existential platitudes.
Obvious plot-turns abound, but you get the feeling that the concept-mongers want you to exclaim in surprise rather than groan in agony (the revelation regarding the autistic character is so long coming that it even loses its irritation factor, you can't even get worked up enough to be annoyed!).
Even if you accept this "concept" on its own flimsy and pretentious terms, (I really feel that you have to have been to art school to fully appreciate its awfulness) the ending should still come as a bit of a shock. In what is probably the only genuine surprise in the entire "concept" the concept-mongers actually stoop to a conventional splatter-shock sequence. It's not a surprise in any interesting sense, it's just surprising that the concept-mongers didn't think they were operating on a higher level than this convention.