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Writer's pictureKaveh Jalinous

The Cloverfield Paradox (2018): Film Review





On February 4th, 2018; Netflix did something no other studio has ever done in the past. During a block of Super Bowl ads, a rapid-fire "tv-spot" for the third movie in the Cloverfield franchise came out, teasing an intense plot with great performances and lots of horror. Even better, moments later on Twitter, Netflix announced the release of the film, which was right after the "big game" ended. So, fan-anticipation reached all-time highs, and people all around the world were excited for the anticipated third-film in one of the best sci-fi franchises. But, where as its predecessors shined, The Cloverfield Paradox is a messy, at times pointless, confusing, and cliched attempt at making a sci-fi/horror film. And the sad part is, at many points within the movie, there was so much potential for it to rise to the ranks of the first two films. Throughout the three film Cloverfield series, each film is distinctly unrelated to the rest. The first film is a found-footage film about a giant monster taking over New York City, while the second is about a woman waking up to find herself in a bunker, with a strange man telling her he "saved her from the apocalypse." The third film, originally titled God Particle and originally set to be released on April 20th, tells the story of a space station crew testing out a particle accelerator, until a hiccup causes them to "lose the Earth". Yeah, you read that right. Although the plot seemed iffy, and movies set in space are always cliched and forced, because it claimed the title of Cloverfield, the bar was set high and it was destined to be awesome. But, to my surprise, the film fails on so many levels, and makes the situation a lot more complicated than it needs to be. The film promised to be a prequel to the first film, yet there is no direct indication of that. None of the events that happen in the film are actually explained, and the movie spends more time trying to freak the viewer out than to actually give them a good and hearty plot. The actors in the film are all amazing, which is a true shame because their talents aren't shown in the film, and there is a slight comedic undertone which ruins the whole idea of the movie, and the idea of the Cloverfield movies itself. Clovefield is supposed to be a scary, thought-provoking series, but the third film betrays everything the series is about, and instead is a pointless, and highly unnecessary cash-grab film. The direction is awful, and each and every scene is filled with a shaky and unpredictable camera movements. The film is moderately fast-paced though, and all the events shoot to the audience at rapid-speed, but it doesn't mean everything if the events feel forced and cliched. But, the one thing I will give to the film, is that it has one hell of an ending, that's for sure. Overall, The Cloverfield Paradox could have done everything so much better, and elevated its status to those of its predecessors, but instead falls for a worthless, overly dramatic, stupid, space-set film that is riddled with unnecessary events and way too many cliches.

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