Kind of a Waste

Rating: 5/10 (14 December 2005)

You cannot help but be intrigued by the premise of 'Cube'; six strangers awake to find themselves trapped in a hellish labyrinth of booby-trapped rooms. They don't remember how they got there or why. Now they must find a way to escape. Awesome scenario, right? Unfortunately, what could have been an interesting thriller/character study falls victim to pretentiousness and a poor script. As far as pretensions are concerned, it is obvious that the film's creators intended it to convey some sort of message about the evils of the military-industrial complex, or perhaps comment upon Man's primal nature. Although these issues are sometimes touched upon, like the film itself, they are never explored to a meaningful extent. Further impairing the movie is its sub-par script. It is clear, at a very early stage, what will happen: at least one character will go insane and kill someone. The survivors will then have to contend with this character and the Cube itself while trying to escape. While the story moves toward this inevitable stage, it throws in several superficial conflicts for good measure. Most implausible among these is the animosity between Quentin and Worth. No reason is given for these characters' mutual hatred for one another. Rather, we are forced to accept their vitriolic banter as the result of confined, incompatible personalities. In short, 'Cube' is a movie that tries to be smart but just ain't.