I enjoyed the first "Cube" flick (I will review it eventually) and was looking forward to this sequel. Predictably, it borrowed a lot from the original, but when you think about it...what more can you really do with a tale set in a damn cube!? I did respect this follow-up for at least sporting a different visual vibe than the original though (the feel is very bright as opposed to grungy) and for taking some elements a step further story-wise, instead of giving us the same damn thing all over again.

My main hook to this mindbender were its visuals. The optical goodies began at frame 1 with the uber-kool prologue and the inventive opening credits kicking all kinds of psychedelic ass. These two bits alone were worth the price of a rental. I had a freaking blast! As for the rest of the film, it basically acted as a playground for director Andrzej Sekula (who cut his teeth as a cinematographer on "American Psycho", "Hackers" and many more) to go coo-coo with the zany shots, slick angles and striking plays with all kinds of motion. I relished Sekula’s artistic, Kubrick-light touches throughout the movie with the "out there" sex scene in the film being one of the more memorable bits (loved the red dress effect). NICE!

From a narrative standpoint, the whole “Hypercube” concept definitely had me by the sack as well. The setting basically gave the film "carte blanche" to mess with our heads and toss all kinds of psychotic/surreal moments our way. Even though the purpose behind all of the mind tweaks was flimsy at best, I still had a hoot 'nanny with it all. Alternate realities and a multitude of doppelgangers are always "fun times" in my magazine and the film managed to use those devices in amusing and creative ways (loved the watch collection). I also delved head first into the mystery that came with every character as each revelation kept me on my thumbs and sucked me deeper into this mad world.

On the downside, this sequel felt the need to explain the cube's origins and even though I understood that it had to do so in order to push the storyline further, the wooing ambiguity and more “existential” feel that the original had was lost in the process. The direction taken here was "typical" sci-fi . Another boo-boo was that the gore and the scares were surprisingly low. Gone were the unpredictable booby traps found in the first, but present was a cheapo CGI-shredding cube device in their place. Lastly, the film was a bit too talky for its own good and unfortunately for my bleeding ears, the dialogue itself sucked balls to high heavens. It made the actors look pretty bad at times and the characters less endearing. The only player that kept my interest full blast was the one who eventually lost his screws. Yup, I was rooting for the psycho…again. Gotta love 'em!

NOTE: All of the actors here had to spit out some awful lines, which in turn, made them look bad.

This film was shot in Toronto, Canada.

Lions Gate releases the DVD on April 15, 2003