Good for Canada.

Rating: 9/10 (23 June 1999)

This is a Canadian movie. I didn't know that until the end, when , during the credits, they mentioned some sort of Canadian Film Association or something. My fiancee said she figured it was Canadian when one of the characters mentioned Saskatoon. I noticed, but didn't think anything of it.
I'm from Canada, and I think that this is a great movie, not just for a Canadian movie, but for all movies. I've seen many Canadian movies, most of them I didn't like, for one reason or another.
I really loved this movie.
The idea of being placed in a deadly maze, not knowing how you got there, forced to survive by your wits and by the wits of others is a terrifying one. I found myself totally immersed in the idea of the Cube, not caring about the feasibility of the deathtrap, but really identifying with the characters, and placing myself alongside them in the terrible situation they've entered.
I really liked the character interaction, I thought it was believable, given the circumstances, and I like the idea that the characters were chosen (by whomever confined them) because their skills would complement each other. The acting was very good, and I empathized with all of them.
I thought the death scenes and traps were suitably disturbing, evoking more terror and furthering the feeling of hopelessness of being trapped inside the giant machine. The traps gave me sort of a medieval meets sci-fi feeling, and the effects were great.
The movie progressed fairly quickly, and the final escape sequence was well devised, except for the standard villain-back-to-wreak-more-havoc device. Other than that minor tidbit of disbelief, the movie ended well, and I found myself crying out for more. I wanted to see what would happen next, but knew the ending was better without any real closure.
All in all, I gave it 9/10, and recommend it for anyone who likes suspense, sci-fi, math and to a lesser extent horror movies.