The Cloverfield Paradox Directed by Julius Onah (Don’t look Back, The Girl is in Trouble) Story by Oren Uziel (Shimmer Lake, 22 Jump street) & Doug Jung (Star Trek Beyond, Confidence) Screenplay by Oren Uziel. Starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Black Mirror, Belle) David Oyelowo (Selma, Queen of Katwe) Daniel Bruhl (Rush, Captain America Civil War) John Ortiz (American Gangster, Silver Linings Playbook) & Chris O’Dowd (Frequently Asked Questions, Bridesmaides)
Orbiting a planet on the brink of war, scientists test a device to solve an energy crisis, and end up face-to-face with a dark alternate reality.
The Cloverfield Paradox is the third installment in the Cloverfield universe that J J Abrams has created. The first Cloverfield which was released in 2008 was a surprise hit with fans and to myself as a found footage movie about a monster that appears out of the ocean and terrorizes the city of New York. So many clues and Easter eggs where in that film that if you pay closely you can see a ton of tip of the cap to other projects that have influences the film as well as a ton of Easter eggs from J J Abrams early work in tv. The first film ends with questions like where did the monster originate from what was falling out of the sky in the end of the film did the monster die.
10 Cloverfield Lane was the second installment and that film was released in 2016 and surprisingly that movie was really really good. An intense ride of suspense and paranoia with great acting in a confined setting that kept you wondering what was going on. The film seemed to be its own movie that had nothing to do with the franchise until the ending when we were introduced to the idea of why are they hiding in a bunker and scared to go outside. More questions than answers at the end of the film but intrigue can sometimes be good.
When is enough enough though. Sometimes we want the answers quickly as to where, when, how and why. So with the Cloverfield Paradox which was supposed to be called God Particle at one point I thought we would get the answers. Instead we get more questions and confusion than answers. Paramount pictures had the rights to this film and felt they wouldn’t make the money by releasing it into theaters so they sold it to Netflix and with that Netflix decided to release a trailer during super bowl Sunday and then release the movie on Netflix for streaming the same exact day right after the game. So the Cloverfield Paradox was done filming a while ago as well as the 4th installment of the Cloverfield franchise which is called Overlord. Now this film takes place in 2028 while the first was 2008 and the second was 2016 so how could this movie be a prequel to those well it’s not but kinda is, don’t worry I’ll explain. This movie does however explain the origins of the Cloverfield monster.
Ok so in the first Cloverfield film we have the big monster and then you have the little Parasites and that’s really it in the film. Now the big monster is building size tall so just remember that and it was said that the monster is just a baby that’s according to J J Abrams. Now when the camera in the first film skips and cuts through scenes if you pause it you can see monsters from old classic movies like King Kong, the dinasaur beast, ETC.... the first film does end of a cliffhanger and you wonder did the monster die. Well towards the final credit sequence you can hear someone say “help us” but if you reverse the credits you can hear someone say “it’s alive”. Now the end of the film when you see something falling from the sky into the ocean many people thought that was the monster but fast forward to the third film that is a satellite, or is it?
Now the second film 10 Cloverfield Lane was a self contained film that J J Abrams described as a blood relative to the first film. From what I’ve read this film was not a Cloverfield film. It was a movie that was made and then they decided to add some scenes to make a connection to the first film. I loved this movie for what it was a creepy thriller with little horror elements but because it was self contained I. One place it gives you that sense of dread. Now the poster for the movie 10 Cloverfield Lane has many Easter eggs. If you look closely on the mail box you can see the name Megan and that is the name of John Goodman’s daughter in the film. Also if you look towards the house in the grass you can see the bad robot hiding there. Of course bad robot is the name of J J Abrams company. Now this movie like the first movie they also had a viral campaign and in it there is a picture of John Goodmans character and he is working for bold Futura the satellite company (remember this for the third film). Now 10 Cloverfield Lane is somewhat of an alien invasion film but it doesn’t focus on that much but I’ll detail as to why later.
So on to Cloverfield Paradox. Now the film is about a group of astronauts from different backgrounds sent into space to activate a particle accelerator and this is what explains the origins of the Cloverfield monster (kind of). Now the movie starts off on earth where the planet is dying because energy is lost and so the main character by the name of Hamilton is going on a mission to space to harness energy before the countries go into war. Now keep in mind Hamilton is leaving behind her husband who tells her to go but later on in the film we find out they had 2 kids who died in a fire. Now during the film while in space one of the astronauts is listening to the news and you can see the news anchor and if you look close you can recognize her because she was the lady in 10 Cloverfield Lane who was trying to get into the bunker. So she is interviewing a conspiracy theorist who wrote a book called the Cloverfield Paradox and his name is Mark stambler now if that sounds familiar it is because John Goodman’s character in 10 cloverfield Lane is Howard stambler which is his brother. He is explaining why it is a bad idea what the astronauts are trying to do and says that Everytime they test the reactor it can open the membrane of space time smashing together multiple dimensions and release demons & monsters. So in the movie after activating the accelerator the astronauts are transported to an alternate universe where strange things begin to happen. I won’t get into all of that because this would be really long so let’s get to the ending of the film and The tie ins. So the get back to their reality and shoot out the pods heading back to earth. Now her husband who in the film on earth finds a little girl and decides to take her to a bunker to hide after seeing a shadowy monster. Similar bunker to the one in 10 Cloverfield Lane. So he gets a call from a friend and he tells him that they found the ship and she’s on her way back home and the husband screaming on the phone tell her to go back tell her to go back. Then we get a shot of the pod going into the cloud heading into earth and then the Cloverfield monsters head rises over the cloud screaming and the movie ends.
Now to sum it all together. Why is this monster so damn big that he can go over the clouds when the monster from the first film is small. Now J J Abrams did say it was a baby but did it grow that big or is this a different monster. Is the pod than shot back down to earth was that the same thing we saw at the end of the first film with the satellite shooting into the ocean? But the monster at that point hadn’t destroyed New York City yet. Is this a different timeline than the other 2 films because this takes place 20 years after the first film. Now the Author did say that ripples in time and space don’t only effect the present but they also effect the past so these might be different dimensions happening all together.
Now the 4th film which is already shot and done is called Overlord and it takes place during the Nazi Invasion so this would prove that it is alternate dimensions. Now onto my issue with this film. I love this franchise but 10 Cloverfield Lane (which I loved) and this film were originally shot as different movies that had nothing to do with the Cloverfield franchise but they did a couple reshoots and tied them in and made them Cloverfield movies. Now it may have worked for 10 Cloverfield Lane but it doesn’t work for this film at all. The film was not bad but it wasn’t good at the same time and you can tell with the jumping from earth and space that these are 2 different movies just smushed together. More questions than answers and is the next one gonna answer our questions and tie it all in or will they keep going and turn this into the saw franchise where it just gets dull and unappealing. We’ll find up with the next film.
Final Score: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 17%
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