metro-broadway

While not nearly up to par with his latest feature They Wait (which is working at a sort of "Hollywood Standard" level), this is a pretty strong third sequel, which is a rare thing. Especially at this budget level. This is a director who's on the way up with each film a step up from the last.

Cube Zero was being advertised as a prequel to Vincenzo Natali's sci-fi classic Cube, but this would appear to be some kind of marketing ploy; there's nothing here to indicate any of the film's events transpire prior to Natali's version. But the most surprising thing about Cube Zero is how effective it is, particularly when compared to its predecessor; writer/director Ernie Barbarash employs many of the same elements that made the original so enjoyable (ie incredibly brutal deaths), while also peppering the story with some new elements (the one thing Barbarash doesn't have on his side is freshness, as there's already been one direct-to-video sequel in this franchise).

Instead of focusing entirely on a group of characters stuck inside the cube, Barbarash throws in a subplot involving two low-level employees who are responsible for keeping an eye on the cube's victims. As a result, we do learn more about the cube's existence - though Barbarash smartly refuses to divulge everything, occasionally contradicting certain revelations with something entirely different (this is in addition to the appearance of certain elements within the cube that go unexplained). There's even an appearance by an odd, robotic-eye sporting executive named Jax (Michael Riley), who seems as though he'd be more at home in a David Cronenberg flick.

Cube Zero opens with a fantastic sequence in which a hapless victim trudges into one of the cube's many rooms, and finds himself sprayed with a water-like substance (suffice it to say, it's not water). It's something that one expects out of a Cube flick - ie flamboyant on-screen deaths - and in that respect, the movie does not disappoint. But, like Natali's original (which is, admittedly, superior), there's more to the film than just blood and gore; it's the escape efforts of these disparate survivors that proves to be the most intriguing aspect of the story.

The performances are surprisingly strong, with Stephanie Moore and Zachary Bennett the obvious standouts (the latter is particularly effective as an employee of the cube who makes the mistake of questioning its very existence). And while it would've been nice if the film had answered a few more questions than it posed, there's no denying that Cube Zero is a worthy addition to the franchise.

A remake of the eponymous cult classic, Gone in Sixty Seconds follows a ragtag group of car thieves - led by Nicolas Cage's Memphis Raines - as they attempt to steal 50 cars over a 72-hour time period. Director Dominic Sena infuses the movie with precisely the sort of glossy style that one expects from a Jerry Bruckheimer production, while screenwriter Scott Rosenberg peppers the story with a whole host of quirky characters and clever instances of dialog. The film is consequently entertaining but senseless; the inherent slickness of virtually every aspect of the production eventually becomes mind-numbing, and there comes a point at which one can't help but crave something (anything) of substance. Having said that, Gone in Sixty Seconds is certainly teeming with charismatic performances (Cage is at his oddball best here) and there's simply no denying the effectiveness of the climactic car chase that finds Raines on the run from dozens of determined cops.

Distinctly uneven but generally entertaining, Enemy of the State casts Will Smith as Robert Dean - a Washington-based attorney who inadvertently finds himself at the center of a far-reaching conspiracy involving the murder of a well-known congressman. Director Tony Scott - working from David Marconi's screenplay - infuses the film with an expectedly kinetic sense of style, while producer Jerry Bruckheimer's presence can be felt in even the smallest moments (something that's particularly true of the random bits of quirkiness among the supporting characters). And although costar Gene Hackman - essentially reprising his Conversation role - acts circles around Smith, Smith's charisma and likability certainly goes a long way towards engendering the viewer's empathy. But at a running time of almost two-and-a-half hours (!), there's simply no denying that Enemy of the State is right on the verge of being disastrously overlong (the inclusion of a needless third-act sting probably doesn't help matters, although it does lead into a ludicrous yet enjoyable climax that's oddly similar to the finale of Scott's True Romance). Still, the movie is - on the whole - an astonishingly fast-paced and sporadically intelligent thriller that's generally as mindlessly engaging as Bruckheimer undoubtedly intended.