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  • Cube



    This thread is adapted from a movie review I wrote for Nerd Movie in 2013.

    The Cube trilogy is a psychologically jarring twist on why Johnny hates math, but too fascinating to turn and run away. The movies in film order are Cube (1997), Cube 2- Hypercube (2002), and Cube Zero (video 2004).
    790: You're wasting your energy attempting to force my cooperation.
    I have no sense of self-preservation and I can always be reassembled.

  • #2
    A horror flick with numbers, the first Cube is a 3D mobile construct designed purely for human experiment, only we donÔÇÖt know that right away. Prisoners wake up in separate rooms and find their ways to each other, at first by accident, but learning quickly to read the door numbers before entering the next possibly booby trapped room. The viewerÔÇÖs first question might be- but why not just stay in the room they woke up in? Terror propels them as one by one they find others who either witness horrific death or suffer it themselves. Will they find an escape before the rooms do them in, or before they do each other in?

    One particularly nice draw to Cube viewing is David Hewlett, recognized by Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis fans as Dr. Rodney McKay. this time playing Worth, an architect who daylighted blueprints for- who? Apparently for whoever built the cube he woke up in, because he recognizes his spec work. Other prisoners he meets include a jailbreaker, a cop, a psychiatrist, an autistic man, and a math student. But are they who they seem? They dont seem to realize the secrets they keep might be what connects them somehow



    The second Cube is a hypercube, a 4D construct that defies human intuition for solid time and space. Mathy people in particular will find this movie set CGI exotic and stimulating, heightening the fear as each new room is discovered. This time the prisoners discover they all have something in common- they knew too much. But itÔÇÖs not merely a psychological torture experiment in the hypercube, because this time an agent is planted inside with them to find out who the infamous hacker Alex Trusk is, and where he downloaded secret files the world isnÔÇÖt supposed to know exist.

    Cube 2- Hypercube stars Kari Matchett as the agent, who you might recognize from a number of other projects, including Elementary, ER, and 24. Eight prisoners wake up in the rooms this time, including a game designer, a lawyerÔÇÖs assistant, a retired mathematical engineer, a private detective, a genius hacker, a teacher, and another architect who had no idea his specs were going to be used in constructing a room defying the laws of physics. The intellectual pace moves more quickly than the first Cube movie, and the dialogue thickens as they all work desperately against each other to keep their secrets, even in the face of horrific inescapable death. The final question leaves the audience stunned- who built this thing? We only get a vague hint.



    Cube Zero is the third in the trilogy but actually the prequel to the first two Cube movies. This time we are outside the cube, meeting people who helped design the cube, who obey orders on how to set up the cube rooms, and who give the orders. Is it scarier outside the cube, or inside? And is anyone immune from being imprisoned in the cube? Questions abound, and one question finally gets answered (is there any way to beat the cube and really escape?) and another never really does (why was the cube built in the first place?). Along the way we get hints of the circular nature of private investors corrupting government militaries while governments parasite private funding- the psychological twists just donÔÇÖt stop in this bizarre exploration into the absurdity of the price of human genius.

    We know the people who wake up in the rooms this time. We learn their stories very differently, and we learn the cost of not only sacrifice, but of loyalty, in oh so many ways. Again the layers are twisted, if not quite as deep, but the answers we get bring an angry tear this time instead of stunned shock. The story is more simple, but the meaning is so deep, and finally we see the only hope all along in all the Cubes was simply remaining true to themselves and accepting their fates with what bloody shredded dignity they could hang onto. I have my own conjectures as to Why- Private pay per view betting for the rich? A bizarre Orwellian retraining program? Fear of being put into the cube being incentive for those already caught in the political trap? And I canÔÇÖt help but wonder- do we already have one of these?

    By Janika Banks
    grandfortuna.xanga.com
    @PinkyGuerrero
    790: You're wasting your energy attempting to force my cooperation.
    I have no sense of self-preservation and I can always be reassembled.

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