Movie review: Cube
Aug. 12th, 2004 12:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
castaliaThe things I do for actors.
Rented Cube, pretty much just to see David Hewlett be all cute. As for the movie, well, it was certainly thought-provoking.
I'm not really a big fan of these sorts of movies in the first place. It's not the gore (though there wasn't too much of that here), it's the whole watching people die in painful, messy, and often highly unfair ways. I'm not thinking "ew", I'm thinking "ow, that would really suck", so yeah, not my preferred brand of entertainment.
I do appreciate when these movies try to have actual plot and be somewhat intelligent, and this one did try. I actually like it more now that I've read some backstory about it.
Ok, basic rundown - 7 people wake up in cubed rooms with no knowledge of how they got there. Each room has six ways out, each leading to...yup, another cube. The twist? Some of the rooms are booby-trapped. Stuff like acid, flame-throwers, spikes, and other fun ways to die.
There's a lot of philosopical/social commentary type stuff about government conspiracies, the human condition, and how much life sucks. How they get in the Cube is never really revealed. The Cube itself is described as an accident, a "forgotten perpetual public works project", the purpose of which got lost somewhere along the way.
The character names are actually kinda cool. Each is named for, and their personalities are patterned after major prisons. Quentin - San Quentin, CA, known for its brutality. Holloway - a women's prison in England. Kazan, a disorganized Russian prison (this character is mentally challenged). Rennes - a sort of "mentor" prison that pioneered a lot of today's prison policies (this dude is an escape artist/master criminal and gives them advice before he buys it). Alderson - a prison that commonly uses isolation punishment (this guy wakes up all alone, and dies in the teaser). Leaven (math student) and Worth (architect, who, punnily enough, also has issues with self-worth) - Leavenworth prison in Kansas, corporately owned and runs according to strict rules.
The effects are cheap, but it’s a cheaply made movie. They only had one set, the 14'x14'x14' room, with colored panels they changed out to make it look like different rooms. The few big effects were donated, and the only cameras they used were of the hand-held variety. They did a pretty good job with what they had.
I only knew two of the actors. David, of course, and Nicole de Boer (Leaven), who is Sarah in The Dead Zone. I liked her better here. They do a good job, and Kazan is ok, but the others tend to overact a bit.
I did like the development of David's character. He's the architect who was contracted to build the outer shell of the Cube, so he comes with an already established sense of guilt (though he never really knew what it was or who was behind it). Quentin tries to make him out to be the bad guy, and really sends a lot of abuse his way, but in the end, he gets to be the hero.
He's also really hot in this movie. Snarky, adorable, and he has quite nice legs.
The math geek in me likes all the math stuff they included. Cartesian coordinates, factors, permutations, all kinds of things I’d probably never be able to figure out in such a situation. Leaven (the math whiz) and Kazan (who can factor in his head), use these numbers that mark each room to figure out whether or not the room is trapped, and how to find the edge of the Cube.
What sucks for them is that they finally realize they could have made it out with no danger at all had they simply stayed put. The rooms in the Cube shift around, so eventually the one in which they all met up will lead outside. Course, then there wouldn’t have been a movie.
Quentin’s transformation from take-charge cop to homicidal lunatic is rather melodramatic. Definitely the type you’d be glad to have around initially, and later would fervently wish off the face of the earth.
What I really hated was the ending. They killed him! All that way, going from pessimistic cynic to the hero of the day, bonding with several members of the group, and they kill him.
Bastards!
Ok, I’m admittedly biased. I think I’d fall for any character David was playing. Especially when he’s young and adorable, gets to be the hero, suffers so nicely, and even indulges in a bit of hysterical laughter. I had started to really like Worth. But I must admit to being annoyed when they find the exit, knowing they only have a short window of time, and he just sits down and wants to give up. For a second I thought the beatings were finally taking their toll, that he was dying, but no; the outside world is just too stupid and pointless to face. Well, ok, but do you really want to sit there waiting to die of dehydration (no personal shield that’s gonna fall off just in time here)? Man, I’d take my chances with the stupid people.
Oh well. For a $2 rental, it’s not so bad.
I hope David doesn’t die in every movie I get to see him in. I don’t need another Jamie Bamber, who never seems to get to live.
In Beckett/McKay news, I finally finished the wallpaper I was working on, which is now gracing my laptop background. I'm not entirely happy with it, but I'm leaving it as is for now. Those who are curious can see it here. (for those with slow connections, it might take a bit to load)
ETA: Angelfire is a big poopy head, so you'll have to paste the URL into your browser to see the wallpaper - http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/castalia/images/CarsonRodneywallpaper2.jpg
Rented Cube, pretty much just to see David Hewlett be all cute. As for the movie, well, it was certainly thought-provoking.
I'm not really a big fan of these sorts of movies in the first place. It's not the gore (though there wasn't too much of that here), it's the whole watching people die in painful, messy, and often highly unfair ways. I'm not thinking "ew", I'm thinking "ow, that would really suck", so yeah, not my preferred brand of entertainment.
I do appreciate when these movies try to have actual plot and be somewhat intelligent, and this one did try. I actually like it more now that I've read some backstory about it.
Ok, basic rundown - 7 people wake up in cubed rooms with no knowledge of how they got there. Each room has six ways out, each leading to...yup, another cube. The twist? Some of the rooms are booby-trapped. Stuff like acid, flame-throwers, spikes, and other fun ways to die.
There's a lot of philosopical/social commentary type stuff about government conspiracies, the human condition, and how much life sucks. How they get in the Cube is never really revealed. The Cube itself is described as an accident, a "forgotten perpetual public works project", the purpose of which got lost somewhere along the way.
The character names are actually kinda cool. Each is named for, and their personalities are patterned after major prisons. Quentin - San Quentin, CA, known for its brutality. Holloway - a women's prison in England. Kazan, a disorganized Russian prison (this character is mentally challenged). Rennes - a sort of "mentor" prison that pioneered a lot of today's prison policies (this dude is an escape artist/master criminal and gives them advice before he buys it). Alderson - a prison that commonly uses isolation punishment (this guy wakes up all alone, and dies in the teaser). Leaven (math student) and Worth (architect, who, punnily enough, also has issues with self-worth) - Leavenworth prison in Kansas, corporately owned and runs according to strict rules.
The effects are cheap, but it’s a cheaply made movie. They only had one set, the 14'x14'x14' room, with colored panels they changed out to make it look like different rooms. The few big effects were donated, and the only cameras they used were of the hand-held variety. They did a pretty good job with what they had.
I only knew two of the actors. David, of course, and Nicole de Boer (Leaven), who is Sarah in The Dead Zone. I liked her better here. They do a good job, and Kazan is ok, but the others tend to overact a bit.
I did like the development of David's character. He's the architect who was contracted to build the outer shell of the Cube, so he comes with an already established sense of guilt (though he never really knew what it was or who was behind it). Quentin tries to make him out to be the bad guy, and really sends a lot of abuse his way, but in the end, he gets to be the hero.
He's also really hot in this movie. Snarky, adorable, and he has quite nice legs.
The math geek in me likes all the math stuff they included. Cartesian coordinates, factors, permutations, all kinds of things I’d probably never be able to figure out in such a situation. Leaven (the math whiz) and Kazan (who can factor in his head), use these numbers that mark each room to figure out whether or not the room is trapped, and how to find the edge of the Cube.
What sucks for them is that they finally realize they could have made it out with no danger at all had they simply stayed put. The rooms in the Cube shift around, so eventually the one in which they all met up will lead outside. Course, then there wouldn’t have been a movie.
Quentin’s transformation from take-charge cop to homicidal lunatic is rather melodramatic. Definitely the type you’d be glad to have around initially, and later would fervently wish off the face of the earth.
What I really hated was the ending. They killed him! All that way, going from pessimistic cynic to the hero of the day, bonding with several members of the group, and they kill him.
Bastards!
Ok, I’m admittedly biased. I think I’d fall for any character David was playing. Especially when he’s young and adorable, gets to be the hero, suffers so nicely, and even indulges in a bit of hysterical laughter. I had started to really like Worth. But I must admit to being annoyed when they find the exit, knowing they only have a short window of time, and he just sits down and wants to give up. For a second I thought the beatings were finally taking their toll, that he was dying, but no; the outside world is just too stupid and pointless to face. Well, ok, but do you really want to sit there waiting to die of dehydration (no personal shield that’s gonna fall off just in time here)? Man, I’d take my chances with the stupid people.
Oh well. For a $2 rental, it’s not so bad.
I hope David doesn’t die in every movie I get to see him in. I don’t need another Jamie Bamber, who never seems to get to live.
In Beckett/McKay news, I finally finished the wallpaper I was working on, which is now gracing my laptop background. I'm not entirely happy with it, but I'm leaving it as is for now. Those who are curious can see it here. (for those with slow connections, it might take a bit to load)
ETA: Angelfire is a big poopy head, so you'll have to paste the URL into your browser to see the wallpaper - http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/castalia/images/CarsonRodneywallpaper2.jpg
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-11 10:14 pm (UTC)And nice wallpaper! You might want to let people know that you have to copy and paste the address to get it to work, though, since Angelfire is annoying like that.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-11 10:18 pm (UTC)Argh, I was so pissed. I'd gotten rather fond of him. The symbolic ending was all well and good, but dammit, I wanted him to live. I wanted him and Leaven to be friends and go visit Kazan every now and again. No one caters to my wants ;)
It's a good thing I watched it when no one else was home, otherwise my bellowing "nooooooooo!" might have startled someone...
Thanks! I forgot Angelfire did that...stupid site.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-12 12:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-13 08:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-12 12:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-13 08:27 pm (UTC)