In 2008, J. J. Abrams and Matt Reeves brought us "Cloverfield," a sci-fi horror that crossed the large-scale calamity of monster movies such as Godzilla with the realism and grittiness of the "found footage" sub-genre.
The film achieved some genuine scares (I have always been a sucker for giant monsters), and attained somewhat of a cult following. But perhaps Abrams overestimated the amount of audience interest in "Cloverfield" when he decided to convert the original script "The Cellar" into "10 Cloverfield Lane" in 2016.
It seemed to be an indirect sequel that nobody expected or asked for. "10 Cloverfield Lane" functions more as a spiritual successor to the original film with which it shares a name. Now, with "The Cloverfield Paradox," J. J. Abrams hopes to cement the namesake as a franchise, with production of a fourth installment already underway.
The primary aspects shared by these three films are their namesake and their sci-fi genre. Otherwise, they very easily could have been independent of one another. And they originally were; The Cloverfield Paradox was originally a speculative script entitled "God Particle," which Abrams altered for his own purposes during its production. "Cloverfield" is a found footage monster movie, "10 Cloverfield Lane" is a small-scale thriller with tension reminiscent of Hitchcock, and "The Cloverfield Paradox" is kind of survival horror set in space. Though this time there is a direct link with the original "Cloverfield," the connection seems to be both incredibly loose and forced in at the same time.
In the near future, Earth is set to engage in another World War due to the energy crisis reaching its peak. Hamilton (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is our protagonist, one scientist of many aboard a collider orbiting Earth, which when activated may generate enough power to solve the energy crisis permanently.
Her companions are actors Daniel Bruhl, Daniel Oyelowo, Chris O'Dowd, Zhang Ziyi, and Aksel Hennie, scientists who each represent a major country aboard the facility. The first forty minutes are an intriguing setup, with music by Bear McCreary setting a genuinely enchanting tone. The collider overloads and careens the facility into an alternate reality (a result predicted by a ranting conspiracy theorist seen on television only moments before, oddly enough).
The rest of the film is the subsequent consequences of this event and the efforts by the crew to repair the station and return to their own version of the universe.
But this incident has had effects on Earth as well. Hamilton's husband Michael (Roger Davis) experiences the effects that this dimensional shift has had on Earth. The world falls into chaos, plagued by an unknown threat, and he does his best to ensure the safety of a stranded young girl.
This side plot ultimately goes nowhere at all and reaches no satisfactory conclusion. Though, the most exciting shot of the film does transpire as Michael stands beneath the smoking wreckage of several buildings at night. Through the smoke, we glimpse a vague colossal enormity move in the darkness, accompanied by a familiar monstrous vocalization.
This moment brought back the feeling of dread that accompanies an unknown, mountainous horror, a feeling that can be found in the original "Cloverfield," and left me wishing that this movie served more as a direct sequel than a rebranded sci-fi horror centered around a dimension-hopping space station.
Back on the said station, several odd events lead the crew members to question the laws of reality. The process of figuring out what went wrong and how to fix it feels less like solving a mystery and more like following a trail of breadcrumbs dropped by nothing at all.
Seemingly random events happen because "reality doesn't make sense anymore" and the movie just does not feel like explaining how the disembodied arm knows the location of the missing space compass.
That sentence, I feel, sums up the absurdity of some of the least understandable aspects of the film. It is as though the attempted tone is akin to Alien, but there is no corporal threat to analyze and overcome.
All the complications and tension feel manufactured due to the random nature of what can and cannot happen at any time. Ham-fisted foreshadowing is rebranded as "just tell the viewer what is going to happen."
The exposition later in the film primarily comes from German scientist Schmidt, who at one point is seemingly blessed with the power to read the script. The crew is practically interchangeable, as none of their individual skills really come into play to aid the plot, and they have predictable levels of expandability.
There is also, strangely, a decent amount of humor, which I suppose plays well, though it may be jarring at times to take such quick turns between gory on-screen sci-fi violence and nervous comic relief.
Ultimately, there is not much of a message or take away from the events of the film, nor did it leave me dazzled with any unique take on the genre.
The link to the original film is direct, but still somehow feels shoehorned into what was otherwise, at best, an acceptable sci-fi horror flick. For those looking for answers to "Cloverfield," the movie will ultimately disappoint.
