Skip to main content

Movie Review: "The Cloverfield Paradox" Is A Monstrous Let Down


THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX
Starring Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, 
Aksel Hennie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O'Dowd
John Ortiz, David Oyelowo, Zhang Ziyi
Screenplay by Oren UzielDirected by Julius Onah

Reviewed by Paul & Patrick Gibbs 
Out of Four

Do you remember Amazing Stories? In the '80's, Steven Spielberg's first foray into television was this weekly anthology which was based on the idea of making half hour tv episodes out of ideas that couldn't quite sustain a feature. J.J. Abrams has a similar approach with the Cloverfield series, creating a series of feature films based on ideas that couldn't quite sustain a full half hour of television.

The Cloverfield Paradox is the third entry in the series, and it takes place in the year 2028. The earth is suffering from a global energy crisis and on the brink of war, and the the various space agencies of different nations are working together, preparing to test the Shepard particle accelerator on board the Cloverfield space station.

Of course, when they do set off the accelerator, something big happens, and that's where the story really goes into full Twilight Zone mode. At first it's just confusing and annoying, but eventually the story starts to click. and the cast couldn't be much better, lead by the wonderful Gubu Mbatha-Raw, whom you may remember as that black actress from that movie you didn't see, and David Oyelowo (winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor for Selma somewhere in a alternate reality that doesn't suck), as well as Daniel Bruhl, Zhang Ziyi, Elizabeth Debicki, Jon Ortiz, Chris O'Dowd and Aksel Hennie from The Martian, because they needed at least one veteran movie astronaut aboard. These actors are all so talented and believable that even the weirder sections of the film are rendered pretty watchable. though it's a good thing that it is premiering on Netflix, because you'll want to watch it with the captions on in order to even try to follow the silly psuedo science.

Image Courtesy Netflix and Paramount Pictures

There are times when the combination of a great cast, excellent production values and just the fact that it's a sci-fi space movie makes it not just watchable, but fairly entertaining. And while overall the cast isn't given a chance to really show us how talented they are, Gugu Mbatha -Raw really shines with the emotional elements of her role. Strong, perfectly cast heroines has always been a hallmark of J.J.'s work, and they owe each other a better movie than this one. Unfortunately, Oren Uziel's screenplay ias all over the place, and Julius Onah's direction is competent, but not strong enough to pull it all together and stop the station and the movie from hurtling through plotholes into other dimensions. Part of the problem is that by forcing it into the "Cloverfield" franchise, they tie it together with a twist ending so utterly movie ruining that renders the time you spent watching the film utterly wasted. In fact, the ending is so bad that it may be a franchise killer for reasons we can't explain in a spoiler free review.

It's important to remember that Netflix is bringing us some great films, such as Mudbound, First They Killed My Father, The Little Prince and Beasts of No Nation, but between this and the dreadful Bright, so far all they are doing for blockbusters is to make an argument in favor of studios sticking with superhero and comic book movies. Imagine if you had to pay full ticket price for either of these debacles.


The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK
THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER
THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+
THE BEARDED TRIO ON PINTEREST

CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON STEVEN SPIELBERG
CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON GEORGE LUCAS
CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON JOHN WILLIAMS

Popular posts from this blog

Did Paul Freeman Accidentally Eat A Fly In Raiders of the Lost Ark?

The Famous Indiana Jones Fly In Belloq's Mouth Scene.  Did It Really Happen? I've always wondered if Paul Freeman unintentionally consumed a fly in this scene in  Raiders of the Lost Ark ?  It's the scene where Indiana Jones shouts down to Bellosh...I mean Belloq and threatens to blow up the ark.  Did a fly go in his mouth? I remember watching this scene back in the early eighties and my ten year old mind thought he definitely had a snack while filming.  I recall talking about 'flygate' in my school playground at the time and the general consensus with my friends was that Freeman definitely had a sneaky snack. Paul Freeman talks about the famous 'fly' scene in an interview with TheIndyExperience.com  and settled 'flygate:' This is a bit of a dicey question so don’t get too upset. (Laughs) A movie’s always got bloopers in it, some have a lot, and some only have three or four. And the most remarkable blooper was right before the opening of th

Star Wars VII Movie Poster - Every End Is A New Beginning

Star Wars VII Movie Poster Just saw this Star Wars VII movie poster on Kyle Newman's Facebook fee d.  The poster is by  Lyndon Berresford and Paul Bateman.  I am loving this.  Who do you think the two characters are?  Lando and Leia?  Han and Leia's children? Have you seen other Star Wars VII movie posters?  Let me know. Rob Wainfur @welshslider

Explaining That "Weird" Cut In Poltergeist. Read The Missing Scene

Why Is There A Strange Cut In The 1982 Horror Classic, Poltergeist? If you're a fan of the 1982 Horror classic, Poltergeist then you will be very familiar with that "weird" cut in the movie.  It's 32 minutes and 47 seconds in to the movie and the scene is where Diane is explaining the strange phenomenon that is happening in the kitchen.  First, she shows to Steve a chair scraping across the floor all on its own then she does the same with Carol Anne.  Steve leans up against the kitchen wall and is completely shocked at what just happened.  It's at this point Diane starts to explain the sensation of being pulled and then...A very abrupt cut.  One moment we are listening to Diane and suddenly it cuts to Diane and Steve at their next door neighbours door.  Why the sudden cut?  It's on the VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray and even the streaming versions.  Why does this awful and weird cut exist in the movie, Poltergeist?  Watch the clip below to see the cut: Well, the ans