The Cube (1997)
I am a firm believer that a films success lies solely in the hands of the off-screen crew. That no mater how cheesy the acting, how simplistic the set design, even how low the budget, a good film will always shine through. And Vincenzo Natali, esteemed director of such projects as Beetlejuice (the TV show) and Babar (the TV show), proves just that in his film, The Cube. In The Cube seven seemingly random unwilling participants are thrown into a giant cube, comprised of smaller cube shaped rooms, with the single minded purpose of getting out. But unfortunately for the seven inside the cube they have no clue how they got there, where they are, and most of all how to get out. Oh, and half of the rooms are booby trapped with insanely grotesque modes of death, acid, slicing wires, liquid nitrogen, and the list goes on.
The Cube is a very hard movie to accurately describe, as it is hard to do justice to both its small budget and bad acting and its amazing plot and set design at the same time. The easiest way to sum up the worth of this movie is to say that, “It’s the best of a Sci-fi original and the worst of local theater.” And so, for sake of simplicity I will break my analysis of this movie own in to smaller more concrete areas.
Acting 1/5Ok let’s get this out of the way, the acting was BAD! Due to budget constraints Vincenzo had to hire a cast of nobodies, the most well known of which is David Hewlett, who played Dr. Rodney McKay on Stargate and actually did a good job in this film. The rest of the cast didn’t fare as well. The best performance of the entire film, however, has to go to Andrew Miller’s interpretation of Kazan, a grown, autistic man. Andrew Miller spends half of the movie banging his head, twiddling his fingers, and generally being made to do anything for a bag of gumdrops (“Gumdrops don’t come in boxes.”). Andrew Miller adds a much needed dose of hilarity into an otherwise sick and twisted movie.
Set Design 4/5So what if they used the same set for EVERY SCENE IN THE MOVIE? It’s a damn good set and you won’t even realize that they are doing it until at least an hour after the movie. Basically this movie is not about the Cube itself. It is about how the seven character react to their predicament and interact with each other. The cube brings about the worst in some and the best in others. So, for what was needed to make this movie work, the set design was well above par.
Editing/Special Effects 3/5The editing in this movie was nothing special. Hell, the entire movie was filmed inside one cube. If you want to see some interesting Cube related editing check out the sequel, Cube 2: Hypercube, a good movie in its own right. Special effects are kept at a minimal, which was a good choice, because with the budget they had anything grandiose would have looked cheesy and out of place. Half of the entire budget of the film was used for the special and technical effects in the first sequence of the movie, so enjoy that while it lasts. Other special effects are peppered through out the movie but the majority of them are computer rendered graphics and green screen effects.
Cinematography 2/5There are little to no imaginative angles in this film, which is understandable because the whole film WAS shot in one set, but it still doesn’t excuse the fact that angles durring conversations, fights, and discoveries were all very banal and unimaginative.
Plot 10/5I can give it ten out of five, it’s my review! This movie deserves (at least) a four out of five simply because of the imaginative and well written plot that makes up its backbone. The film starts off slow enough with different cube-mates discovering each other. Then follows the most exciting part of the movie, during which the captives come to understand the prison they inhabit. Every thing from, personal strengths, to the mechanics of the cube, to high level mathematics is discussed and used impeccably in, what seemed to me to be, one of the most cohesive plots I had ever had the pleasure to take part in. The ending to this film is NOT a Hollywood ending, I myself was rather upset with it when I first watched it. But now, looking back on it, I see that it is the only ending that would have worked. The only ending that made sense with the rest of the movie. And while you will feel let down and upset, you will also, in some back part of your mind, feel insanely happy that everything found a way of working out
Just watch this movie, give it a chance, and don’t turn it off after the first ten minutes. You will be really happy you watched it, and if you watch it with your friends, you’ll be talking about it for days. Especially Kazan
What I Learned From This Movie - Gumdrops don’t come in boxes
- Mental retardation makes any situation funny!
- One set becomes many sets when you add colored lighting.
Pros - Imaginative and original
- Not overly complicated so it’s fun to watch
- When people die, you know it
Cons - Uninspired camera work
- Better acting in Crusade For Covington*
- Annoying montage-like segues
- Nearly every character you like will die
*or any equally under-rehearsed jr. high play
Final DecisionFour
BAGS of gumdrops out of five
Ever wonder if there is a movie where Halle Berry isn't hot in it? Well the answer is no, but if theres one movie where she comes the closest to looking anything like a normal person, its Gothika; and it takes what looks like three years of not washing or combing her hair along with gouging "Not Alone" onto her arms to do it.
