Netflix's The Cloverfield Paradox Provides Audiences With More Frustration Than Answers With Exploring The Origins Of Cloverfield's Story

      When trilogies are formed, generally speaking, the films as a whole may differentiate in terms of style but the storylines usually manage to connect ultimately making each film feel like one completed story arc. The Cloverfield trilogy however, defies that logic as each film is so different from the other in terms of overall stories with loose connections to the previous films, that one almost questions if the series is even a trilogy at all. The first Cloverfield worked very well as being an found footage horror flick combined with an old school Godzilla terrorizing the city style formula. While it wasn't anything groundbreaking in particular, its clever meshing of the two genres proved to be highly successful with audiences along with the film ultimately being solid. The film worked so well in drawing the audience into the story with relatable human characters, while leaving many questions unanswered for audiences to wonder about such as where did the creature come from and what landed in the water at the end in the footage playing during the credits. Those questions were expected to be answered with it's follow-up entry 10 Cloverfield Lane. While that film was well done and worked as being it's own standalone story, audiences still didn't get the questions answered in regards to what the creature in the first film was. With Netflix's The Cloverfield Paradox, the pressure was added in regards to providing answers to the audiences on what the events of the first two films are supposed to mean while telling its own story. Once again, audiences are let down by the films failure to round out the Cloverfield trilogy with a story that brings all three films together as a whole. Instead the movie further drives home the confusion of audiences to what the series as a whole is about as Paradox takes the story further out into the realm of being a somewhat interesting space thriller, that ultimately results in being a mediocre effort at best (One especially disappointing coming from acclaimed filmmaker J.J Abrams as producer). The Cloverfield Paradox feels like a film that carries with it interesting ideas and concepts that never come into full fruition, yet is insistent on connecting itself to the first Cloverfield film as a desperate reassurance to fans that both films are somehow connected which in reality the couldn't be further apart. Paradox isn't a terrible film but it's largely disappointing given the potential it had to provide answers to those who've been wondering about what the events of both Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane signify.

      The plot for The Cloverfield: Paradox centers around a group of scientists in space testing out a device in hopes of solving an energy crisis while their planet is on the brink of war. While doing so, they end up face-to-face with a reality that's both dark and eye-opening. Out of the three films made so far in the Cloverfield series, this one hands down tanks as being not just the worst installment but the most disappointing. What connection does The Cloverfield Paradox have with the previous films to make it's plot an acceptable rounding of all three movies one might ask? Absolutely none, this movie makes little to no sense in regards to what the first film was about nor what 10 Cloverfield Lane was about. While the previous two films we're vastly different from each other, they provided enough suspense and mystery behind their plots to thrill audiences, as well as provide hope that Paradox would finally give the audience answers about what's behind the stories of those films. The Cloverfield Paradox feels like it never truly gets off the ground with it's ambition to deliver a different kind of space opera while trying to bring a round surface to the Cloverfield arc. The movie feels like a mixture of two films forced together, one that aims to be something similar to Ridley Scott's Prometheus in terms of reaching for the stars and the second being a prequel to Cloverfield with events and characters that mesh with moments from the first movie. The biggest problem with Paradox is that the film desires to have both stories and makes an attempt at doing so, but the end result leaves audiences scratching their heads at what exactly is going on in the film and how does it connect specifically with the others. Despite being messy, Paradox provides mild entertainment with it's bizarre new plot with the film being saved from being a complete failure largely thanks to its talented cast of fantastic actors.

     Whereas The Cloverfield Paradox runs on shaky ground when it comes to its storytelling, the acting performances from its cast manage to rise to the occasion and save it from being a total letdown. The performances here are both top notch and help to elevate the films plot towards being something interesting rather than a complete disappointment. The true standouts of the film are Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, and Elizabeth Debicki. Out of the three, Gugu Mbatha-Raw gives the strongest performances as Ava Hamilton, a British communications officer aboard the Cloverfield Station whose encouraged by her husband Michael to go on the space mission in order to save everyone's lives. Gugo does a very good job with her part, conveying all the right emotions with her character that the script requires. Her character essentially is the audiences gateway into the story as the film begins with the story being told from her perspective, and here she doesn't disappoint. David Oyelowo does well as the commander of the station Jason Kiel. Oyelowo gives his character a strong and commanding presence that comes across as being authoritative to the rest of the crew, along with showing his characters fears and vulnerabilities, especially when the crew discovers the Earth has disappeared from their view. Elizabeth Debicki surprises as Mina Jensen, an Australian engineer from one of the alternate timelines. Debicki gives the strongest performances next to Raw with her shifting of emotions from her character being intense to calm adding to the mystery of her character. Other notable and scene stealing performances come from Daniel Bruhl, Zhang Ziyi, and John Ortiz with Bruhl adding to the suspense of the story as German physicist Ernst Schmidt, whom the crew suspects to not be as trustworthy as he appears, Ziyi in a strong and likable performance as Chinese engineer Ling Tam, and Ortiz as religious Brazilian doctor Monk Acosta. The rest of the cast delivers strong performances, that ultimately prove to be effective such as Chris O'Dowd as Irish engineer Gordon Mundy, Aksel Hennie as Russian engineer Sasha Volkov, Roger Davies as Ava's husband Michael Hamilton, and Clover Nee as the young girl rescued by Michael named Molly. As a whole, the cast is well put together with everyone delivering performances that range from good to brilliant. Each actor and actresses does their part in bringing intensity and suspense to the story with the crew sharing natural chemistry overall. Regardless of the scripts shortcomings, the cast attempt to make the most of what their given and bring their A game, elevating the film to a status of being at the very least watchable.

      The films directing by Julius Onah is noteworthy for his attempts to give the film a suspenseful atmosphere, that's full of mystery along with beautiful scenery. One element of the film besides the performances of its cast, that can't be denied is the films visual look with the movie being both stunning and breathtaking to watch. Made on a budget of about $45 million, Onah gives this film an overall production look that feels like an expensive episode of Star Trek turned into a full-length motion picture with a blockbuster style budget. The films CGI is top notch and effective when utilized in the film with strong cinematography adding to the realism of the audience feeling as if they're on the spaceship with these characters along with the scenes on Earth showing the destruction being done by the mysterious creatures. The films pacing is brisk, moving the story along at a quick pace while building up to a big climax that ultimately feels as if it never arrives. The editing however, can become challenging at times with the film reverting back and forth between the scenes on the spaceship along with the ones on Earth with Ava's husband witnessing the chaos unfolding on Earth. As far as the directing goes, Onah rises to the occasion with giving the story the appropriate look and style, that feels like a post-apocalyptic film combined with a classic Sci-Fi thriller. Whatever one thinks of the films screenplay wise, it can't be denied that the film is appealing to watch on both the visual and technical front.

      The scriptwriting by Oren Uziel, from a story by Uziel and Doug Jung is where the film ultimately falls from greatness with it's desire to be unnecessarily confusing to audiences with pushing the series further out from where the first two films were at storywise. The story introduces three different acts that make up the general storyline for the film. The first is the dynamic between Ava and Michael with her contemplating her decision of whether she should go on the mission with her husband urging her to do so. The second is the bulk of the film on the spaceship with the crew as they uncover new dimensions, that make little to no sense with the plot while trying to uncover the mystery behind Mina's character, and the third storyline showing the destruction on Earth with the audience witnessing it from Michael's perspective. This film only needed just one main plot to focus on if its main focus was going to be on the space mission. The film introduces new characters to the story, who aren't given the full development as Ava's character receive, nor have any connections to those from the previous two Cloverfield movies. Numerous characters on the spaceship are killed off without any explanation as to why this is happening in the story. The subplot between Ava and her husband would be more significant and powerful if it weren't for the fact that the films overall story makes no sense at all. The scenes with Ava's husband Michael on Earth witnessing the destruction by the creatures from the first Cloverfield along with him looking after Molly feel unnecessary and randomly thrown into the plot without much significance to what's happening with the main characters on the spaceship. It's essentially just time-wasting as the film waits to get back to it's space origins. The films science also doesn't appear to make much sense with its whole alternate direction angle with the audience being told one minute that any physical effect is possible with the next scenes showing nothing much happening. The script feels as if it wants and desires to build up to something huge within its plot, that never arrives with the films final shot being thrown in there as a reassurance to the audience that this is somehow connected to the first Cloverfield when there's little evidence presented of it being so. The film only references that one when it's convenient and doesn't even acknowledge 10 Cloverfield Lane, prompting the audience to throw their hands up in ultimate confusion as to what this series is supposed to mean overall. The overall script feels like a combination of unfinished ideas and concepts thrown together in a desperate attempt to make for an entertaining thrill ride with audiences with moments being inserted to insist that somehow, these films are all connected with the end scene meant to be the big payoff.

      The greatest tragedy with The Cloverfield Paradox as a whole is not that it's a huge disappointment for those anxious to find answers about what the first two films represent, it's that the audience was robbed of potentially two strong films masquerading as one. The filmmakers would've been much better off using the script for Paradox to make their own space opera, that's completely distant from this series with the characters and story being more thoroughly developed, while using another script in it's place that finds some kind of way of connecting the first two films together. It's a shame that the script doesn't offer much in terms of development given that it's cast makes for a fantastic ensemble. The space side of Paradox's story felt like it wanted to be something along the lines of Prometheus and Interstellar with characters that had potential to be great if properly developed. That would've been just fine had the script been separate from the rest of the stories and the plot being riveting enough to offer more action in the films third act for audiences than a generic plot twist with a main character appearing to be a good person actually turns out to be shady (How many times have we've seen this subplot happen before in a science fiction or space movie? Too much for it to have an impact here other than feeling pointless). There is no other way to describe The Cloverfield Paradox other than simply stating the obvious that the film is a mess. It's a film that aspires to be both ambitious as well as reaching for the sky with it's ideas and concepts, but is ultimately undone by the desire of its filmmakers to merge multiple stories into one. For audiences and fans hoping that this would not only be exciting but bring some understanding and closure to the acts of both Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane, they will surely be very disappointed and hope that someday another film is made that can properly bring it all together. As a standalone Sci-Fi and space thriller, The Cloverfield Paradox is mildly entertaining to being okay at best. However as a film that was mean't to provide answers to the trilogy as a whole, it's a failure and that's being polite in stating the fact.

Final Verdict: For those looking for an entertaining yet forgettable science fiction thriller, The Cloverfield Paradox meets that criteria despite a messy plot. For those who greatly enjoyed the experience of watching Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane, they're best just sticking to rewatching those films.