Cube²: Hypercube (2002)

Eight strangers awaken with no memory, in a puzzling cube-shaped room where the laws of physics do not always apply.

Director:

Andrzej Sekula

Writers:

Sean Hood (story), Sean Hood (screenplay)

Stars:

Kari Matchett, Geraint Wyn Davies, Grace Lynn Kung

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Kari Matchett	...	Kate Filmore
Geraint Wyn Davies	...	Simon Grady
Grace Lynn Kung	...	Sasha
Matthew Ferguson	...	Max Reisler
Neil Crone	...	Jerry Whitehall
Barbara Gordon	...	Mrs. Paley
Lindsey Connell	...	Julia
Greer Kent	...	Becky Young
Bruce Gray	...	Colonel Thomas H. Maguire
Philip Akin	...	The General
Paul Robbins	...	Tracton
Andrew Scorer	...	Dr. Phil Rosenzweig

Storyline

Eight strangers find themselves waking up in a strange cube-shaped room with no recollection of how they came to be there. Soon discovering that they're in a strange fourth dimension where our laws of physics don't apply, they have to unravel the secrets of the "hypercube" in order to survive...

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Plot Keywords:

writing on skin | falling up | calculus equation | number 60659 | introducing self | 

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Taglines:

You won't believe what's waiting in the 4th dimension

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some violence and brief nudity

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 April 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hypercube

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ghost Logic, Lions Gate Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Used a similar staging method as the first film. The Cube was a single set consisting of identical panels for the walls and the floor (in some shots it was a green screen). For the previous movie, the crew clamped large lighting gels to the outer frame of the set so they could change the color scheme, but the all-white high-tech color scheme of this film simplified the lighting, and all they had to do to change the set in regards to what room they wanted to depict was to write on the walls with a grease pen and position certain props necessary to the plot. Some shots required the use of a green screen, especially when any door was opening. Some scenes used a full box to depict the room, but it was always the same set, just modified with extra panels.

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Goofs

Grace Lynn Kung's character (Sasha) is blind an yet she wears a regular watch. Obviously she wouldn't be able to tell the time unless it was a special type of watch suited for blind people, which this one is not.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Colonel Thomas H. Maguire: [Maguire opens the portal to a new room, but ignores the room to look at the sides of the portal] Numbers. Where's the goddamn numbers?
[the portal closes before he can decide what to do]
Colonel Thomas H. Maguire: Oh God, oh God. There has to be something.
[He opens the briefcase, but it does not hold whatever he was looking for]
Colonel Thomas H. Maguire: Oh, shit. Goddamn it! Goddamn it! I mean, they're my numbers! Damn. Don't I at least get a shot at my numbers, you stupid fucks? I want a chance! God. I want a chance. God. I want a ...

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Connections

Referenced in Cube Zero (2004)

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Soundtracks

I No You
Written and performed by Kas Dunn
Published by Eat Entertainment

User Reviews

I expected so much after Cube. Luckily, Hypercube isn't bad.

First off, don't bother seeing this until you've seen Cube. You wouldn't miss much if you did, but you won't appreciate & enjoy it nearly as much. I heard this was more of a remake than a sequel, but actually it's a straight-out sequel.

Again, a seemingly random group of people are abducted and imprisoned in a possibly enormous matrix of anonymous Cube-shaped rooms, with doors in all six surfaces, and a number of fiendish & deadly booby traps (and scary noises). Hypercube (moving on from Cube) adds gravity, time and parallel universe traps into the mix.

It's good because: it's broadly similar to Cube, which was excellent. You're not immediately sure who will be standing at the end. The special effects are a bit 'clean' looking, but very smart. And there are some funny moments in this one.

But it's not brilliant because: the plot is a little too clear (and simple), whereas Cube really worked because it was unexplained and ambiguous. The characters seemed to fit the same sort of roles as in the first movie. And there's a fair bit of hammy over-acting, deliberate comedy, and a curious lack of desperation & fear (whereas Cube was superb in all these respects).

There are a lot of well-intentioned sequels which (by their very nature) cannot string you along with the same 'fear of the unknown' in the original, and this is the case here. I also believe that having access to a bigger budget for a sequel is often a bad thing, since it's easier to go for flashy special effects at the expense of story, acting & dramatic tension - as in this case. (brilliant opening credits though)

But Hypercube - although not as good as Cube - does work as 'next step' sort of sequel. I was just surprised I laughed so often, without it ruining the film for me.

If they make a third one (the ending does indicate that they could), they should spend the vast part of the budget on a really good concept/script & director, get really-good-but-unknown STAGE actors (Hypercube came across as more of a soap-opera level of acting), and go back to the ingeniously wicked & creative traps a la Cube - because the CGI route does not look like a road worth following any further..