Review: The Cloverfield Paradox

-
This is how it starts.

In an international space station, a team of scientists from around the world, Hamilton, (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) Kiel, (David Oyelowo) Schmidt, (Daniel Brühl) Monk, (John Ortiz) Mundy, (Chris O'Dowd) Volkov, (Aksel Hennie) and Tam (Ziyi Zhang) are attempting to test a device that would potentially solve the energy crisis going on in parts of the world. Before they try to fire it, we catch a quick glimpse of a fanantic on a news station warning about the terrible things they could cause by doing what they're doing. And of course, this comes back to bite them.

I've said before how genius I thought the marketing for the original Cloverfield movie back in 2008 ones, and now The Cloverfield Paradox is giving them a run for their money. This was a Superbowl ad during last night's game, followed by the announcement that Netflix was going to drop it immediately after the game was over. That's never happened before (or if it has, at least not with a film this big) It worked. I flipped over to Netflix immediately after the Eagles won and sure enough, there it was waiting for me. So did many others.

This film did what last year's Life was trying to do. It has a diverse cast, they all behaved as scientists and didn't make stupid decisions and it had some legitimately scary moments. (On scene in particular actually made me jump, which rarely happens anymore) The cast has great chemistry. I've been on a Brühl kick lately so seeing him was a nice surprise, but it's Mbatha-Raw who is the heart of the film. She gives a wonderful performance.

This was billed as answering the "how" to Cloverfield, but I don't feel it did that exactly. It did answer the question of how the monsters got to Earth, and maybe I just need to re-watch but I don't remember anyone mentioning the U.S having an energy crisis in the first one, whereas the news in this one talks about it being an ongoing thing in Europe. They made it seem global and I just don't remember signs of it from either of the two movies that came before this. But for me, this was a solid watch. I was surprised when I checked the tags on Twitter and saw a lot of people hating on this. I didn't feel it was bad by any stretch. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "That's my fucking arm." - Mundy (Chris O'Dowd)

Comments

  1. Often Off TopicFebruary 5, 2018 at 3:33 PM

    Well this post is a breath of fresh air! I'm hoping to see it tomorrow but the hate I've seen already is quite shocking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 6, 2018 at 6:36 AM

      That really surprises me. It's in no way perfect but I wouldn't call a thing about it bad.

      Delete
  2. DellFebruary 5, 2018 at 6:47 PM

    Well damn, you didn't waste any time at all. I only became aware of this after seeing the trailer during the Super Bowl last night. Glad to hear you liked it because I plan on watching it this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 6, 2018 at 6:35 AM

      They sold me, as soon as I saw on Twitter it was coming after the game I was like "we're watching this."

      Delete
  3. Candice FrederickFebruary 5, 2018 at 9:03 PM

    i didn't think it was bad either, though the first half was a bit messy to me. i enjoyed it, especially the second half. i applaud Netflix for this bold move.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 6, 2018 at 6:35 AM

      Me too! I hope it paid off well for them, despite the review.

      Delete
  4. RuthFebruary 6, 2018 at 4:49 PM

    I haven't seen any Cloverfield movie but the CAST alone intrigued me. But of course then I realized this was originally called God Particle which sounds far more intriguing. Well, I might watch this at some point since it's on Netflix.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 6, 2018 at 8:28 PM

      The Cloverfield stuff feels added in, but it did in 10 Cloverfield Lane too and that was a great film. I hope you like this.

      Delete
  5. Sonia CercaFebruary 10, 2018 at 7:06 AM

    I was really intrigued by the cast but the film disappointed me so much. I'm glad you enjoyed it more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 10, 2018 at 8:37 AM

      I'm sorry it disappointed you. I hate when that happens.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen...
Read more

My Favorite Movie Youtube Channels

-
Image
Starting around 2018, I started watching Youtube for more than just movie trailers or music videos whenever a new one dropped. Now I'm in full blown subscription mode and don't bat an eyelash at watching a Youtube video that's over an hour long. I watch Youtube for a few different categories of content, but one of them that I love most is movie/TV essays and commentary, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. Below is a list of my favorite movie related Youtube channels. Let me know if you're familiar with them too, or if you have any you'd like to recommend to me.  Double Toasted - I'm honestly surprised this channel isn't bigger. I first came across Korey and Martin when they reviewed War for the Planet of the Apes a few months before it hit theaters and I thought they were hysterical. While their full length videos stream on Twitch, they often upload their movie reviews and commentary on youtube and they're always hilarious. They've...
Read more