A Good B-Movie

Rating: 7/10 (26 June 2004)

*SOME SPOILERS THROUGHOUT*
The Cube was one of those films I'd heard a few good things about but I never actively searched it out. I recently spotted it at the local video store so I decided to give it a go. The first thing it is important to consider is that this was only a notch up from a student film, as it was Natali's debut feature after film school and had a budget of only $300,000. With that in mind, the film is quite remarkable.
In many ways this is about as "high concept" as you can get - 6 strangers from different walks of life find themselves trapped in a giant maze of rooms contained within a giant cube, furthermore they discover some rooms are lethally trapped. Why or how they got there is never disclosed, which adds to the mystery.
I first want to pick out the films merits. First, it is a great idea that because of it's dependance on character should appeal to a wide audience, not just sci-fi fans. The set design is excellent for such a low budget and the CGI work (apparently donated by CORE design in Canada for nothing) is also good for a film of this budget. The cinematography, though a little murky, is great at emphasising the claustrophobia through wide angle lenses and exaggerated camera positions. For a film mostly shot hand-held, many of the shots are extremely steady and smooth. The sound design is good as well with plenty of atmospheric rumbling as well as high-tech mechanical sounds for the traps.
Where the film drops some points, however, is in the script and acting. I personally found only a couple of the characters likeable, and one, Holloway, was so irritating I cheered when she was disposed of. For a film as reliant on script and character as this, any weakness is sure to be particularly noticeable. I thought that both Nicky Guadigni and Maurice De Wint over-acted when some subtlety was required. The dialogue was also very patchy at times. ("You beautiful brain!") Having said that Nicole De Boer as Leaven (very convincingly playing a high school student in her mid-twenties) and David Hewlett as the cynic, Worth, were mostly excellent and Andrew Miller does a good Rain Man impression.
Although a film of this nature requires some suspension of disbelief, I thought that it was pushing it too far that Leaven just happened to be a high school student able to do PHD level maths. I also thought it was a bit messy to suddenly make Kazan, the autistic, also turn out to be a mathematical genius. If this was his 'gift' he should have been the one doing the maths throughout.
I mentioned before that this should appeal to a wider audience than just sci-fi/thriller fans. This is because being very reliant on character there are also some larger themes involving the nature of humanity and society. This film has intelligence and does open up some great philosophical points for debate.
And the ending - You'll either love it or hate it depending on your outlook on life. Being a bit of a cynic I liked it. Although the final survivor seems to be quite arbitrary and there doesn't seem to be a clear message or final statement (unless it is that the mentally handicapped will inherit the earth!) the ending stays with the themes and tone of the film as a whole.
To conclude - Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the film as a whole and it was an original concept largely well executed which is always refreshing to see. However the few weaknesses I have mentioned do detract which is quite disappointing. Now the director has seen some higher budget success with "Cypher", maybe a remake with a better cast and a sharper script would reach the level of greatness this is tantalisingly close to.
Verdict: 7