CUBE 2: HYPERCUBE. Surprisingly good follow up to the cult science fiction original

Despite my fully justified concerns, Cube 2: Hypercube turned out to be a decent, at times very good, film. The plot significantly does not deviate from that of Cube. Once again, we have a group of people, seemingly unrelated, wandering through identically looking rooms and desperately seeking a way out of the cube, thus solving its mystery. The film’s creators cleverly exploited the basic rule governing the creation of sequels, namely the multiplication of the most characteristic elements that contributed to the success of the original. It turned out that in this part, the cube was equipped with another (fourth) dimension (the so-called tesseract). Until now, this dimension has been only a theory, born in the minds of physicist-mathematicians claiming that the human mind cannot comprehend it. In Andrzej Sekuła‘s Cube 2: Hypercube, a few more theories appeared, unconfirmed in practice. So we have parallel worlds or temporal distortions. I must reassure all laymen in this field because the explanations are presented in a quite accessible way. They do not bore but only introduce another element of mystery, enigma, and create a very specific atmosphere.

The director opted (as in the case of the first part) for unknown actors. They performed decently, although they did not surprise with anything special. Just good, ordinary craftsmanship. I missed a bit of madness and expression in their performance because, after all, the characters found themselves in a rather unusual and almost hopeless situation. I have no complaints about the cinematography (done by the director himself). Various camera angles, interesting editing, a uniform color (this time predominantly white) make the claustrophobic person may have trouble enduring the entire screening. Watching it gives the impression of being absorbed by the cube, causing slight discomfort. I must admit honestly that I did not feel this during the first part for understandable reasons. For obvious reasons, the set design of Cube 2: Hypercube was minimized but in no way is it a criticism.

The misguided idea was to introduce, out of the blue, a cube that began to kill. I suspect that it was supposed to dynamize the calm, monotonous action. The visual effects did not disappoint. They stood at a good, solid level. Like the cinematography, they strongly affected my senses. The ending is somewhat disappointing. When the first part left the ending open, here all the cards were laid out on the table. The mystery of the cube’s creation was explained. The magic was gone. On the one hand, dragging it on indefinitely would not have been a good idea, but on the other hand, the ending, in my opinion, was too banal. You could feel that soon there would be a next cube, and in fact it happened two years later as a Cube Zero.

Cube 2: Hypercube premiered in the United States in 2002. Perhaps it did not gain as many followers as Cube did, but I think a significant portion of the audience considered it a solid dose of engaging entertainment. It may not be a sensation and discovery, but it is not a disgrace and a failure for Andrzej Sekuła, who will certainly pleasantly surprise us in the future.

Author of the text: Tomasz Urbanski