Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Cube 2: Hypercube is the sequel to the brilliant 1997 science fiction film called Cube. The original film was about a bunch of people stuck inside what resembled a giant Rubik’s cube floating in space and how they used all kinds of advanced math and physics techniques to figure their way out of the puzzle. This movie puts a new twist on the original story, but ultimately fails in the end because it didn’t make much sense.

The cube is designed with a countless number of identical square rooms with a door on each side, meaning there are six ways in and out of each room. The rooms seem to be moving around, though the people inside cannot hear anything. For that reason, if somebody goes through a door and it closes behind them, the next person through may not end up in the same room. Also, time does not seem to exist inside the cube, as several of the people end up running into themselves while moving between rooms. Thus, instead of being a three-dimensional cube, this utilizes the fourth dimension – time. The plot of this story revolves around the quantum physics theory of multiple levels of reality where the same person may exist on several different plains of existence.

In this film, it begins showing a young girl with fleeting memories of being inside a lab before she wakes up inside the cube. As she moves into another room, something pulls her away and then the screen fades to black. Just like the original movie, it slowly introduced the original characters and has them all wind up together in one room as they argue over what is going on and try to figure out how to get out of the cube. Also like the original, each character has some kind of background or secret that connects them all together, but those characters often do not reveal those secrets until the very end. From the beginning, it is obvious that every one knows more than they let on.

I really enjoyed the original Cube movie, but this sequel tries to borrow too much from the first one. Also, watching it is like seeing an episode of the television show Lost from the middle of the season. It presents more questions than answers and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The ending was kind of interesting and sets the stage for a third film (Cube: Zero), but it doesn’t explain enough of what was going on. I also thought the way that it revealed the character’s identities was a little annoying. It was as if most of them already knew what was going on but did nothing about it.

Like most low-budget B-movie science fiction films, this one contains the three B’s I discussed in my review of Starship Troopers 2: Bad acting, bad dialogue, and boobs. This movie does have a few cool special effects and some neat makeup effects, but ultimately it falls flat in comparison to the original and innovative first movie, which was made on a shoestring budget and in a single set.

If you liked the original Cube, you might enjoy watching this one to see what happens next. It was an okay movie I suppose, but I expected more from it. The next movie is supposed to explain more about who is running the cube, so that might be worth watching just to get some answers.

Here’s my review of the original Cube movie: http://www.epinions.com/content_39415090820


Recommended: No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV