Cube 2 is in many respects just a clone of the original Cube movie. Suppose you haven't seen that movie yet and consider watching this more recent version, which would probably be cooler because it has a larger budget and CGI... don't! Watch the original instead. If you like it, watch Cube Zero afterwards. Don't watch this one unless you really ache for more Cube- stuff.
There are many things about Hypercube that don't work. Overall, it feels like a bad remake of an old classic. This is not surprising because that's exactly what it is, except for the fact that the original isn't really 'old' yet, it only predates this movie by 5 years. 'Cube 2' is populated by almost exactly the same characters as the first movie. The premise is also the same, even though they added an extra 'dimension' (literally).
Of course it also differs from the original Cube in some ways. First, the complexity of the way in which the original 'cube' could be solved, is replaced by a simple concept which is made to look complex by means of cool-sounding terminology and random mathematical formulas. In the original movie, someone familiar with mathematics could follow the lines of thought of the characters, and people unfamiliar with maths could still feel that there was something substantial to it. In Cube 2, nobody understands what's happening, and this seems to include the makers of the movie themselves. Next, the original movie featured some gruesome yet inventive ways in which many of the characters died, involving traps with wires, fire, acid and so on. In 'Cube 2', characters are killed by computer graphics -- literally. If you expect more of the visceral gore like in Cube, you'll be heavily disappointed. Moreover, the effects looks cheap and dated. They're so obviously synthetic that it's distracting. Finally, there's a whole set of fresh actors. Unfortunately, the acting is rather bad. Unlike in the original 'Cube', I didn't care about any of the characters. Some even irritated me to such a degree that I wanted them to die quickly.
'Cube 2: Hypercube' feels as if somebody thought the original 'Cube' could be improved by throwing a bigger budget to it, and a crew which is skilled and has good tools, but has no clue of what made the original so good. It's a bit as if they just learned about the concept of a hypercube and found it so cool, that they thought a movie mostly based on this concept would be equally cool.
There are many things about Hypercube that don't work. Overall, it feels like a bad remake of an old classic. This is not surprising because that's exactly what it is, except for the fact that the original isn't really 'old' yet, it only predates this movie by 5 years. 'Cube 2' is populated by almost exactly the same characters as the first movie. The premise is also the same, even though they added an extra 'dimension' (literally).
Of course it also differs from the original Cube in some ways. First, the complexity of the way in which the original 'cube' could be solved, is replaced by a simple concept which is made to look complex by means of cool-sounding terminology and random mathematical formulas. In the original movie, someone familiar with mathematics could follow the lines of thought of the characters, and people unfamiliar with maths could still feel that there was something substantial to it. In Cube 2, nobody understands what's happening, and this seems to include the makers of the movie themselves. Next, the original movie featured some gruesome yet inventive ways in which many of the characters died, involving traps with wires, fire, acid and so on. In 'Cube 2', characters are killed by computer graphics -- literally. If you expect more of the visceral gore like in Cube, you'll be heavily disappointed. Moreover, the effects looks cheap and dated. They're so obviously synthetic that it's distracting. Finally, there's a whole set of fresh actors. Unfortunately, the acting is rather bad. Unlike in the original 'Cube', I didn't care about any of the characters. Some even irritated me to such a degree that I wanted them to die quickly.
'Cube 2: Hypercube' feels as if somebody thought the original 'Cube' could be improved by throwing a bigger budget to it, and a crew which is skilled and has good tools, but has no clue of what made the original so good. It's a bit as if they just learned about the concept of a hypercube and found it so cool, that they thought a movie mostly based on this concept would be equally cool.