Just hours before the kickoff of Super Bowl LII, Ava DuVernay warned us that something huge was coming. Something so epic and groundbreaking that it would cause an earthquake on Film Twitter. Of course, the internet immediately started to ramp up speculation about what it could be. It took me a while to put the pieces together, but eventually, it clicked for me- Netflix was going to drop the new Cloverfield movie unannounced on Super Bowl Sunday. It's rather funny that it took me so long to figure that out, since I had predicted it weeks before on Twitter (a prediction that was picked up by both Netflix and CEO Reed Hastings). Sure enough, a spot ran during the game formally announcing that The Cloverfield Paradox was headed to Netflix and that it would be arriving "Very Soon." We quickly learned that "Very Soon" meant "Right After the Game" and the internet erupted in frenzied excitement.
It was a match made in heaven. Netflix, a company known for breaking all the Hollywood rules, and Cloverfield, a series known for breaking all the Hollywood rules, had partnered to deliver a shock for the ages. This really could change the way that distribution is handled, especially when it comes to Netflix's more established properties. In a way, the quality of The Cloverfield Paradox is irrelevant, just like the quality of Bright is irrelevant. Everyone watched it, and if you're Netflix, that's all that matters. In fact, before I even pressed play on the film on Sunday night, I had a sinking feeling that what I was about to watch wouldn't be very good. Why else would Paramount dump this one, especially after the success of 10 Cloverfield Lane? While the third chapter in the Cloverfield saga/anthology has its moments of wacky entertainment value, the truth is that it's a generic, poorly assembled space saga. It's like a nutso remake of Alien, equipped with alternate dimensions and all kinds of surreal occurrences. But it has no real identity of its own, and for a franchise that has always done its own distinct thing, that feels like a massive letdown. It's not the all-out disaster that you've heard, but it's a frustrating addition to a series that seemed to be on solid ground just two years ago.
In the near-future, Earth is running out of energy. Conflicts have broken out over this power shortage, and the only way to fix it is through an experimental program in space. After the death of her children, Hamilton (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is deeply torn over boarding the Cloverfield Space Station and tinkering with the Shepard particle machine. Eventually, her husband (Roger Davies) convinces her to go and save the world. Armed with a small crew of men and women from different countries, including Commander Kiel (David Oyelowo), Schmidt (Daniel Bruhl), Monk (John Ortiz), Mundy (Chris O'Dowd), Volkov (Aksel Hennie), and Tam (Ziyi Zhang), the Cloverfield Station embarks on a journey to brink the world back from the brink of chaos. However, not everyone is in favor of this massive, risky mission. In an important bit of foreshadowing, a kooky scientist on TV warns that the particle machine could rip open the fabric of space-time, unleashing monsters and turning the Earth into a warzone.
Anybody want to guess where the plot goes from there?
The machine fails and fails and fails again. But just when all seems lost, the station miraculously undergoes a successful test. The crew members share a brief moment of collective elation before the machine overloads, sending the station into a mess of fire and madness. And then they realize that the Earth is.....gone. At this point, everyone is obviously a little terrified and concerned. Were they hurled across the galaxy? Was the Earth destroyed? What's really going on? From there, things only get scarier for the Cloverfield crew. After hearing a banging noise, they realize that there's a mysterious woman (Elizabeth Debicki) trapped in the walls of the station. And not only is she trapped there, but she also recognizes Hamilton. Volkov becomes possessed by some unknown force, the crew turns on each other one by one, and Mundy loses a hand. Oh, and Earth is under attack at this point. With unpredictable horrors lying around every corner, Hamilton will have to solve this interdimensional puzzle and find the way to save the day.
The Cloverfield Paradox was always destined to be scrutinized in three ways- as a big Netflix marketing stunt, as the latest installment in one of Hollywood's most eclectic franchises, and as its own distinct story. In terms of the former, it's an unqualified success. But the latter two aspects of its cinematic identity are much more muddy and often bitterly disappointing. After the runaway critical and commercial success of 10 Cloverfield Lane, it seemed like Bad Robot was positioning the Cloverfield franchise as an anthology series, a collection of loosely-connected sci-fi/horror films that would serve as a modern day Twilight Zone. With this third installment, the producers have seemingly turned away from this idea. There are tangible connections to the original Cloverfield here, and it does the film no favors. Who knows what they'll do with the fourth chapter (rumored to be Overlord), but I hope that it moves back into standalone territory.
Some have labeled The Cloverfield Paradox as an atrocious franchise killer, and I don't exactly think that's the case. The anthology framework leaves room for failures, which means that the next installment will likely be a bounce back movie in a way (stay away from the original). Anyways, Paradox isn't necessarily an unforgivable fiasco- it's just an overly ambitious movie that slowly falls into a void of blandness. Director Julius Onah is constantly trying to do different things, messing around with big scientific ideas and introducing spectacular twists. While it has some spooky scenes and gory elements, it's not really a horror film, leaving it in this odd state of limbo that is pervasive throughout. The obvious shades of Alien put it firmly in the sci-fi genre, but it also lacks the Hitchcockian thrills of 10 Cloverfield Lane, meaning that it isn't a particularly suspenseful movie either. So what is it exactly? Well, it's eerily similar to Daniel Espinosa's Life, but it just feels formless and tedious in a way that I didn't expect. It does a lot of things over the course of its runtime, but it certainly doesn't do much well.
Even as it struggles as a formulaic sci-fi hybrid, The Cloverfield Paradox's greatest flaw is undeniably its consistently lackluster execution. The script by Oren Uziel is a total mess of strange sci-fi ideas, so Onah opts to just crank the pacing up to 11. Bolstered by Bear McCreary's solid, overwhelming score, Paradox moves at a mile-a-minute, so fast that the audience probably won't be able to poke holes in its concepts. It's just exhausting after a while, and it only makes the film's peculiar lulls in the plot feel even more noticeable. Remember how 10 Cloverfield Lane opened with a Psycho-esque scene of Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Michelle packing up her things and abandoning her life, followed by a jaw-dropping car crash? Yeah, so Paradox opens with a conversation in a car, one that only exists to rattle off exposition to the viewer. I feel like that tells you everything you need to know.
The Cloverfield Paradox is diverting at times, using the ridiculous, propulsive pacing to its advantage. But even the character work with Gugu Mbatha-Raw's Hamilton feels forced and unsatisfying, which makes sense when you learn that it was tacked on later. This movie never crashes and burns, but it's the kind of disappointment that just never gets off the ground. It looks pretty enough (shout out to cinematographer Dan Mindel), and there's some silly fun to be had with this story. But after 10 Cloverfield Lane, we know how great this franchise can be. It may not be fair to compare this kinda sorta sequel to the movie that came before, but sorry, Dan Trachtenberg's stellar thriller was always going to be on my mind. Netflix pulled off a wonderful Super Bowl surprise, but it's a shame that such a revolutionary industry change came in the form of a film that is so entirely unremarkable.
THE FINAL GRADE: C (5.5/10)
Images courtesy of Netflix
It was a match made in heaven. Netflix, a company known for breaking all the Hollywood rules, and Cloverfield, a series known for breaking all the Hollywood rules, had partnered to deliver a shock for the ages. This really could change the way that distribution is handled, especially when it comes to Netflix's more established properties. In a way, the quality of The Cloverfield Paradox is irrelevant, just like the quality of Bright is irrelevant. Everyone watched it, and if you're Netflix, that's all that matters. In fact, before I even pressed play on the film on Sunday night, I had a sinking feeling that what I was about to watch wouldn't be very good. Why else would Paramount dump this one, especially after the success of 10 Cloverfield Lane? While the third chapter in the Cloverfield saga/anthology has its moments of wacky entertainment value, the truth is that it's a generic, poorly assembled space saga. It's like a nutso remake of Alien, equipped with alternate dimensions and all kinds of surreal occurrences. But it has no real identity of its own, and for a franchise that has always done its own distinct thing, that feels like a massive letdown. It's not the all-out disaster that you've heard, but it's a frustrating addition to a series that seemed to be on solid ground just two years ago.
In the near-future, Earth is running out of energy. Conflicts have broken out over this power shortage, and the only way to fix it is through an experimental program in space. After the death of her children, Hamilton (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is deeply torn over boarding the Cloverfield Space Station and tinkering with the Shepard particle machine. Eventually, her husband (Roger Davies) convinces her to go and save the world. Armed with a small crew of men and women from different countries, including Commander Kiel (David Oyelowo), Schmidt (Daniel Bruhl), Monk (John Ortiz), Mundy (Chris O'Dowd), Volkov (Aksel Hennie), and Tam (Ziyi Zhang), the Cloverfield Station embarks on a journey to brink the world back from the brink of chaos. However, not everyone is in favor of this massive, risky mission. In an important bit of foreshadowing, a kooky scientist on TV warns that the particle machine could rip open the fabric of space-time, unleashing monsters and turning the Earth into a warzone.
Anybody want to guess where the plot goes from there?
The machine fails and fails and fails again. But just when all seems lost, the station miraculously undergoes a successful test. The crew members share a brief moment of collective elation before the machine overloads, sending the station into a mess of fire and madness. And then they realize that the Earth is.....gone. At this point, everyone is obviously a little terrified and concerned. Were they hurled across the galaxy? Was the Earth destroyed? What's really going on? From there, things only get scarier for the Cloverfield crew. After hearing a banging noise, they realize that there's a mysterious woman (Elizabeth Debicki) trapped in the walls of the station. And not only is she trapped there, but she also recognizes Hamilton. Volkov becomes possessed by some unknown force, the crew turns on each other one by one, and Mundy loses a hand. Oh, and Earth is under attack at this point. With unpredictable horrors lying around every corner, Hamilton will have to solve this interdimensional puzzle and find the way to save the day.
The Cloverfield Paradox was always destined to be scrutinized in three ways- as a big Netflix marketing stunt, as the latest installment in one of Hollywood's most eclectic franchises, and as its own distinct story. In terms of the former, it's an unqualified success. But the latter two aspects of its cinematic identity are much more muddy and often bitterly disappointing. After the runaway critical and commercial success of 10 Cloverfield Lane, it seemed like Bad Robot was positioning the Cloverfield franchise as an anthology series, a collection of loosely-connected sci-fi/horror films that would serve as a modern day Twilight Zone. With this third installment, the producers have seemingly turned away from this idea. There are tangible connections to the original Cloverfield here, and it does the film no favors. Who knows what they'll do with the fourth chapter (rumored to be Overlord), but I hope that it moves back into standalone territory.
Some have labeled The Cloverfield Paradox as an atrocious franchise killer, and I don't exactly think that's the case. The anthology framework leaves room for failures, which means that the next installment will likely be a bounce back movie in a way (stay away from the original). Anyways, Paradox isn't necessarily an unforgivable fiasco- it's just an overly ambitious movie that slowly falls into a void of blandness. Director Julius Onah is constantly trying to do different things, messing around with big scientific ideas and introducing spectacular twists. While it has some spooky scenes and gory elements, it's not really a horror film, leaving it in this odd state of limbo that is pervasive throughout. The obvious shades of Alien put it firmly in the sci-fi genre, but it also lacks the Hitchcockian thrills of 10 Cloverfield Lane, meaning that it isn't a particularly suspenseful movie either. So what is it exactly? Well, it's eerily similar to Daniel Espinosa's Life, but it just feels formless and tedious in a way that I didn't expect. It does a lot of things over the course of its runtime, but it certainly doesn't do much well.
Even as it struggles as a formulaic sci-fi hybrid, The Cloverfield Paradox's greatest flaw is undeniably its consistently lackluster execution. The script by Oren Uziel is a total mess of strange sci-fi ideas, so Onah opts to just crank the pacing up to 11. Bolstered by Bear McCreary's solid, overwhelming score, Paradox moves at a mile-a-minute, so fast that the audience probably won't be able to poke holes in its concepts. It's just exhausting after a while, and it only makes the film's peculiar lulls in the plot feel even more noticeable. Remember how 10 Cloverfield Lane opened with a Psycho-esque scene of Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Michelle packing up her things and abandoning her life, followed by a jaw-dropping car crash? Yeah, so Paradox opens with a conversation in a car, one that only exists to rattle off exposition to the viewer. I feel like that tells you everything you need to know.
The Cloverfield Paradox is diverting at times, using the ridiculous, propulsive pacing to its advantage. But even the character work with Gugu Mbatha-Raw's Hamilton feels forced and unsatisfying, which makes sense when you learn that it was tacked on later. This movie never crashes and burns, but it's the kind of disappointment that just never gets off the ground. It looks pretty enough (shout out to cinematographer Dan Mindel), and there's some silly fun to be had with this story. But after 10 Cloverfield Lane, we know how great this franchise can be. It may not be fair to compare this kinda sorta sequel to the movie that came before, but sorry, Dan Trachtenberg's stellar thriller was always going to be on my mind. Netflix pulled off a wonderful Super Bowl surprise, but it's a shame that such a revolutionary industry change came in the form of a film that is so entirely unremarkable.
THE FINAL GRADE: C (5.5/10)
Images courtesy of Netflix
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