Cube Zero [DVD]

Really, I don't get people slamming the third installment in the trilogy. People who liked the first Cube are probably best off skipping Hypercube and going straight to Cube Zero. Why? The cube has the same gritty feel the one in the first installment had, and it's gory at just the right times. The traps are insane, the cube is freaky, the soundtrack disturbing, and the characters the usual assemblage of shady characters. What's there not to love? The cube in Hypercube felt weak, digitalized, removed of all its eeriness due to its clean, digitalized feel, and it was outright confusing at times (I'm supposed to be intimidated by some whirling SF trap that looks like something that would have appeared in Tron had it been made in the 90s? Don't think so!)

Cube Zero is a worthy successor to the first one, and, by far, has some of the most disturbing scenes in the entire trilogy, and an interesting backstory for all those who were wondering who's at work behind the cube after watching the first one. Enjoyed it far more than the first one, at the very least, it's on par. Get et if you enjoyed the first one!

You wake up, alone, on the floor of a cell - you can't remember why you're there or how you got there. The cell is 14 foot on each side and there is a hatch one each of the four walls and on the floor and ceiling, each leading to another identical cell. You have to find your way out of the complex before you die of thirst, but your way is beset by lethal (and rather gruesome) boobytraps.

This is the third (and so far the last) of the Cube series and it acts (apparently) as a prequel to the series. Following from the remake/reimagining "Hypercube" (much maligned, and in my opinion, unfairly so) Cube Zero returns to the roots of the concept; the cell system is mechanical in design and industrial in its feel. The setting is certainly very atmospheric and eerie and I think that on balance it wins over Hypercube's surgical/sci-fi environment.

Despite the familiarity of the setting, this last film differs somewhat from it's predecessors in several ways. Firstly, we are provided with a backstory for the protagonist, Rains and, secondly, a good deal of the film is set outside the cube in the cube control room (and even the outside world) from where the plight of the prisoners is often observed from the perspective of the cube's technicians/controllers. I guess that after two films which never ventured outside the confines of the prison cells, this move was probably inevitable; the questions posed by C1 and C2 could hardly be left unanswered for a third time. Nevertheless, much of the motivation of the cube's designers still remains hidden to a degree.

Apart from that, the film follows the same formula as its predecessors, with a few small deviations and it is unsurprising then that exterior becomes the more interesting environment. We discover that the technicians seem to have as little idea of their purpose or origin as their subjects, and similarly little exposure to the outside world. When it is revealed that several of their number have disappeared, they even invent lame excuses to avoid unpalatable questions. Even when a supervisor arrives to take control of a deteriorating situation, all we learn is that there are layer upon layer of management and no answers to be had.

Conceptually, this is definitely the strongest of the three films. Far from clarifying the mythos, and therefore breaking the spell, the film adds to the mystery by introducing external influences. The setting is also made all the richer by the introduction of the control room and it appears that the set designers had a lot of fun building the detail and backstory into ths environment - the leaking roof, the banks of filing cabinets, the fish in the coffee perc and the mysterious elevator.

The cast is fairly standard cube-fodder and yet again, the more interesting characters are the ones outside the cube: Zachary Bennett and David Huband do a decent job as the Cube technicians, but honorable mention should go to Michael Riley who overacts shamelessly as Jax, the ridiculously sinister and sarcastic supervisor. He plays the role like a parody of a typical Bond baddie and, while some may dislike the overacting, I thought that it added a bit more depth to the scenery.

This is, ostensibly, a prequel to Cube 1. I am not entirely convinced that it is obvious that it sits earlier in the canon and I suspect that it is best watched after the first film.

I liked this a lot more than Hypercube or Cube-Squared or whatever the sequel was called with all its silly computer graphics. This is gritty and darkly funny in a twisted way. It was nice to see outside the box and I liked the references to other sci-fi along the way (e.g. Ghost in the Shell) and it sits nicely with the original innovative Cube.