Cube (2021)

In 1997 director Vincenzo Natali created a unique Canadian science fiction movie called “Cube.” Although it initially performed poorly at the box office it quickly found an audience on home video and became a cult film. In 2002 a sequel called “Cube 2: Hypercube” was released, followed by a prequel in 2004 called “Cube Zero.” A remake was almost inevitable, but when it was finally released it came from an unexpected source: Japan!

This week’s movie was “Cube” from Shochiku in 2021, directed by Yasuhiko Shimizu from a script by Koji Tokuo. Six strangers awaken inside a bizarre structure consisting of an endless series of interlocking cube-shaped rooms. Masaki Suda plays “Yuichi Goto,” a young man troubled by the suicide of his younger brother. He is joined by the embittered young “Shinji Ochi,” (Masaki Okada), abused teen “Chiharu Uno,” (Hikaru Tashiro), tough mechanic “Hiroshi Ide,” (Takumi Saito), hateful executive “Kazumasa Ando,” (Kotaro Yoshido), and reticent beauty “Asako Kai,” (Anne Watanabe). These characters battle each other and their inner demons as they struggle through the mysterious and deadly maze.

The performances are adequate and the direction is tense and atmospheric. Unfortunately “Cube” faces the same problem of so many remakes: it follows the original too closely to justify its own existence. The only new twist is that the character of Asako Kai turns out to be a robot component of the Cube, but this isn’t revealed until the very end of the movie and it doesn’t impact any of the preceding events at all! The result isn’t a bad movie so much as it is just an unnecessary effort. This is a big disappointment for that very reason, and it is no surprise that the movie performed poorly with critics and audiences in Japan, and international distribution has not reaped any success either. The future of this franchise is in doubt unless someone can find a way to make the story fresh and unpredictable, and that seems unlikely.