Clever idea, mediocre execution

Rating: Null/10 (26 March 2001)

Cube is built around a simple, perverted idea: there's a large complex of cubes, with only one exit, crammed with traps and with only very slim information on how to avoid them. Throw in a few humans totally oblivious of the nature of the system, and you have a great setup for either a hot action flick or a depressing psychological drama. The creators of Cube took the latter approach, which made it possible to make the movie on the incredibly low budget, but also required them to come up with interesting characters, where they fell somewhat short.
While the low budget didn't allow a real visual feast, the scenes look surprisingly good, with very few flaws, this setup was more than adequate to support the character interplay.
Some commentary on the story (SPOILERS!): With such a special environment, it would have been nice to have some more extraordinary characters. With one exception they were over-stereotyped. I can see a point in that, they were supposed to be a well-selected team of ordinary people, but it was easy to guess their next moves. Quentin's madness was a nice touch, the way he cracked under pressure was well displayed, especially the turning point, when he risked his neck to save Halloway, then let her fall a few seconds later. But the bloodbath at the end was unnecessary, I really don't see what they tried to accomplish with that (or if I do, I don't like it).
Most importantly, I have no problem with not finding out who runs the Cube. There are the explanations offered by the characters, or the viewer can invent her/his own. It is quite irrelevant to the main point of the movie anyway.
It may not be so easy to judge the actors. Maurice Dean Wint (Quentin) and the autistic guy were convincing, the others either seemed too faceless or over-acting. But then again, Leaven could have just been as unimpressive in real life as Nicole de Boer portrayed her. Similarly, it's not easy to judge how far Holloway's paranoia can push her.
Bottom line, with all the minor flaws, I rather liked Cube. It was disturbing and depressing, and a nice display of ordinary people in extreme, easily fatal situations. It also proves that you don't need hundreds of millions of $$$$ to make great movies, even if there are some special effects thrown in.