THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX REVIEW

I’m not a fan of the Cloverfield movie series; I watched the first one, twice, a long time ago and thought it was interesting. And I was excited to watch 10 Cloverfield Lane, but it was kind of confusing for the entire time, so I didn’t think it was good.

When Netflix announced that, after the Super Bowl, a new Cloverfield movie; The Cloverfield Paradox, would be released, I became very anxious to watch it. Even though I was never big on the franchise, I figured that it would be worth watching because Netflix usually doesn’t slack on the quality they put out. If it was released in theatres first, I probably wouldn’t have watched it until it went to Netflix anyways, so this sped up the process greatly. I’m also very interested in alien life and space exploration (might write about that some time) so, really, I had no other choice but to check out The Cloverfield Paradox. 

I’ll try to review the movie without giving away any spoilers.

First of all: The Cloverfield Paradox takes places in the future. The year is not specified, but based on the technology, I’d guess around 15 years in the future. Earth is quickly running out of energy, so a brave team of scientists mission into space with a task to launch an experimental device that, if successful, will give reliable energy to everyone and save the planet.

I didn’t watch the full length trailer or read the synopsis before watching it. I went in with expectations that it’d be an okay movie, at least. But when it ended, I was yelling ‘Oh Snap!’ repeatedly to myself. I have to say: The Cloverfield Paradox surprisingly exceeded all my expectations. From the start, I had a feeling it was going to be good: It got straight to the point. And the action carried on throughout the movie, all the way to the end. I found myself trying to predict what’d happen next, but I was wrong most of the time. Even when the scene, cameras, and background music were setting up incoming drama, it wasn’t what I was thinking would happen. The Cloverfield Paradox was a very tense and emotional movie, with some scenes of comic relief from one specific character. This was the perfect amount of comedy for a movie that set a serious tone from the very beginning. I wouldn’t even call the ‘comic’ scenes funny; when you watch it, you’ll understand why it was necessary for getting through the moment.

The writing, directing, and acting in this movie were all outstanding. Similar to the previous Cloverfields’s, I’ve never heard of the majority of the actors / actresses before and that made it even better. It’s great when you find new (to me) and talented actors in fascinating movies. I’ll definitely watch The Cloverfield Paradox again and I’ll also make sure to rewatch the first two movies of the series, too. I’ll rate it 8/10.

Director: Julius Onah

Producer: J.J Abrams

Screenplay: Oren Uziel and Doug Jung

Starring: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo (who I recognized from Interstellar), Daniel Brühl, Chris O’ Dowd, and Elizabeth Debicki