The series started in 2008 as a one-off movie with the title "Cloverfield" about an alien invasion that happens suddenly. It takes the direction of a “found footage” film where we are watching an amateur home video of the events that happen from someone’s perspective. It was an interesting movie that I enjoyed when it came out. It wasn’t a huge hit in the box office but enjoyable nonetheless. Then, in 2016, 8 years later, another movie came out titled "10 Cloverfield Lane," and it was an amazing movie, with an amazing performance from John Goodman as one of the main characters. It was about an abduction of a woman after a car crash and she is being told by her kidnapper, John Goodman, that the world is in danger and that she must stay there for her own safety. I only realized after watching it that it was in the same universe as the 2008 "Cloverfield" and it made me love it even more. It felt like a well-done fan fiction with good writing and direction that could be its own movie while still existing in the confines of this awesome universe.
I thought that this would be the end of the series. I would be fine with another one if they were able to keep it entertaining without it getting stale. This new movie, "The Cloverfield Paradox," was the result. I really wanted to love it but at the same time, it felt like they were really trying to keep this universe alive. The sad part is that they didn’t even have to force it for it to be good.
"The Cloverfield Paradox," is a sort of prequel to "Cloverfield," while still being a regular movie. It displays the events that happen in a space station that lead up to the events of "Cloverfield" and possibly give answers to questions raised by the original. The problem was that these questions did not need to be answered but the movie was trying to do just that.
This movie suffers from several downfalls. The first is that it was released at the wrong time. I did not know about this movie until during the 2018 Super Bowl when I saw an ad for a new Cloverfield movie. I was excited, so I watched it immediately after the game, as was the point of the ad. This allowed me to not see any talk or review of it. Also, regarding time, if this movie was released before "10 Cloverfield Lane," I believe it would have done better. The main reason being that it followed a similar formula that made "10 Cloverfield Lane" so original, which can only be understood if watched because it is a big spoiler.
Another downfall, which is more technical, is the horrible script. It feels as though the movie is for a completely oblivious audience. Everything is explained several times and even repeated as if I’m in a lecture. There is very little emotion in the script and minus several moments, some scenes are uncalled for or in the wrong place and time. The only good performance was the main role, Hamilton, played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw because she was the only one with a coherent and existing backstory. Everyone else on the space station seemed like symbolic representations of their country using stereotypes and accents.
The last bad thing I noticed about the movie was that, unlike "10 Cloverfield Lane," it could not find its genre. It dabbled in so many genres like drama, sci-fi, horror, mystery, thriller, and even comedy. Although these genres can be played around carefully, this movie blatantly focused on one genre for about 5 minutes, then completely switched over without hesitation. Usually, when choosing a genre, we always feel it throughout the movie while incorporating others as well. For example, the movie "Alien" has small elements of comedy throughout, a small banter here and there while keeping the surrounding atmosphere in play. We know something is going to happen which keeps us on the edge of our seats. "The Cloverfield Paradox" throws you off kilter when ignoring its own problem by focusing on another story altogether, making me forget and disregard the original story.
This movie had so much potential to be amazing. A prequel to a story that is thinly veiled seems like such a cool idea. The plot was awesome, but the execution was unfortunate. There were a lot of good actors in this movie and a great storyline that could have been so well done with just a couple more months in the filming process. Remove the random characters not important to the story, remove the random mysteries and conspiracies of the film, and focus on only two or three characters intensely while still including the main story arc of the movie. Also, have someone else write the script or understand that your audience is not dumb. Make it complex or vague and have a reveal at the end of what happened; don’t explain what happened before the audience has a chance to figure out. You then have the problem of filling time because you ruined the story.
The "Cloverfield" franchise is a new and original use of genre changes to apply to a universe that I have not seen done before. To use the same universe but change the perspective and genre is innovative and unique. I do want the owners of this franchise to understand this and use it to their advantage if making another movie. I want to see an action movie, about an apocalyptic future, or a straight drama, of someone experiencing life among the aliens, for example. There is so much potential.
This movie gets a 2/5 for excellent ideas but poor execution. I am still excited to see where this goes but now with hesitation.
