~Cast~Cube Zero (2005)
~Cast~
Zachary Bennet..........Eric Wynn
Stephanie Moore.......Cassandra Rains
Michael Riley.............Jax
David Huband............Dodd
Directed by..................Ernie Barbarash
My Rating:
As many of you have probably already read, I am a fan of the cube series and find this to be a very interesting concept. So when I got wind of there being a prequel that explains it all and finally tells us what this giant rubix cube of death is all about, I ran to that "black room" that is the video center and rented me a copy of this. For those of you who are wanting to see more of the same story of a group of stranded people who don't know who they are or what is going on trying to bond together to get out of this will be disappointed, maybe even pissed for this prequel takes place mainly OUTSIDE of the cube. Yes folks, the bulk of this film is told outside of the movie and there for becomes something that is completely different from its predecessors. The gory deaths have returned so rejoice in the fact that you will see this cube kicking some ass and melting some flesh. You may be pondering, if it does not take place inside the cube, what the hell is this movie about!?
To flat out tell you what this movie is about would be to kill a lot of the mystery and mystic that the series has tried so hard to keep. Granted, within the first 10 minutes of the movie we are withdrawn from the cube and get to see what is going on behind the scenes and for the most part, the movie takes place from there, behind the curtain and in the directors chair. We periodically go back inside the cube to get the usual scenarios and stereotypical inmates who of course are confronting there never-ending battle to escape. The marine who has the short temper, the kind old geezer who everyone likes, the annoying doctor who tries to keep the peace, the random character who is sent in to stir up emotions, and the fat funny guy who is there for comic relief. This is but a subplot to what the movie is really about and the bulk of the movie, it's story, and everything you have been craving all this time to find out about this friggin mechanical box of doom is foretold with this installment.
Even with this supposed "tell all" prequel, a myriad of questions arose in my cranium once the credits began to roll. Most concerning events that didn't take place in the movie such as "Is this what the creator of the CUBE movies really intended for it to be about" and "Why would they explain basically everything but not exactly specify as to WHY this is going on" Granted, I am pleased with the information I got out of this but I am also disappointed that I didn't get what I wanted from this. I loved the cube movies for their simplicity and the concept of being trapped in this cube without any prior knowledge of anything. Trying to figure it out for myself is what made the original so good. Now they are telling me and basically showing me everything, it was what we have been asking for since the original, but now that we have it, is it really all that we wanted? It did begin to become retarded at one point, the whole "controlled greened eyed zombie" scenario was more retarded then the ree-ree from the original! You will know what I am talking about when you see this, trust me. While the traps are back in full swing without the PG rated CGI crap, it seemed like they were forced in some ways and were only put in to silence those who voiced there dislike for the made for TV deaths of "Hypercube". I enjoyed them but it seems they tried just a tiny bit to hard in this to please.
The acting is varied from down-right painful to pretty good, luckily the good actors were kept around long enough to keep me happy while those other ones fell victim to the lasers, razor wire, and flame throwers of the cube. We have Zachary Bennet playing Eric Wynn who is the man outside of the cube looking in. Hard to explain him without really giving tons of it away but he was the one who probably did the best job at acting. Stephanie Moore played Cassandra Rains the woman who finds herself trapped inside of this cube and forced to find her way out. Her main reason for trying to escape is to find her child and she does a decent acting performance but I have seen better. I just couldn't get a handle of her character for every time I began to figure her out, she turned into something else. Not plot wise either, it was just the way the actress handled her character. Michael Riley plays an eccentric character on the outside of the cube who appears halfway through and he was, without a doubt the ONLY character in this that wasn't a clone of one of the characters from the original. He does a solid performance of which I really enjoyed. Martin Roach played Haskell the black marine who is supposed to be the strong guy and of course is the asshole which is reminiscent of Maurice Dean Wint's character, Quentin from the original. Ok direct rip off is more like it but that is where this movie lost its point. David Huband played another man outside of the cube named Dodd who does a decent job and could have been better had he actually shown a different set of facial expressions.
To the director, first time director but second time scribe for the cube series, Ernie takes us to the same place he did last time, only this time, attempts to recapture the dark and creepy vibe that Vincenzo Natali gave the original movie. Ernie not only fails to capture this vibe, but also doesn't succeed in acquiring the mystery and mystic that made the first trip inside the cube so great. Yes, it is darker then "Hypercube's" shining bright white lights but it doesn't have the same atmosphere that CUBE had. With the added factor of the questions being answered, the directing in this was a key factor and in a lot of parts it almost ruined it. I hated the editing in this as well in some of the scenes where people go from screaming from being melted alive, to a just having a glob of flesh fall and then become a skeleton. Also, in the beginning, when they transition from inside the cube to the outside, it felt like this was a story being told from a 3rd person, taking you out of the movie and making the cube seem so much less engrossing. As the film progressed...Ernie it seems got more a feel of this and got on track but in the end...I really didn't think his directing was the best for this kind of movie. Half the time he goes over board and shows us every excruciating detail of a death, and then others, he hides the camera away to the point of an off screen death. Very unsatisfying...
To the gore, this time around I must say we DO in fact get what we missed from the original. We get melting shards of flesh, pools of blood, very cool wire slicing and dicing scene, face melting, body exploding, bloody scalpel, brain surgery, needle in foot, spear in the back, pipe to the head, human burning, and I believe that is all we got. As for nudity we get zilch, nada, goose egg, nothing what so ever in this department. Sorry guys, you will all just have to endure the hell that is CUBE 2: Hypercube to get your quick glimpse at the zero gravity titty.
I say, CUBE ZERO works as a prequel on certain levels but also serves as some what of a let down to those who loved CUBE for its mystery. The government card is played yet again and everything is explained towards that aspect, making this a very unoriginal concept. Those expecting the same kind of movie that it's predecessors were are going to be somewhat let down. CUBE ZERO is a good film none the less, it DOES work on a lot of levels, the story (once you get used to it) becomes very engrossing and interesting more so on the outside of the cube. The main problem you have with this...is the lack of characters that the first cube relied so strongly upon. Check this out if it's in, it is better then part 2 but not by much.
Special Guest Reviewer's quote coming soon...