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

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

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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 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

Review: The Batman

Thursday Movie Picks: Wedding Movies

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum