The Cloverfield Paradox Review

Directed by: Julius Onah (The Girl Is in Trouble)

Starring: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Bruhl, Chris O'Dowd

Written by: Oren Uziel and Doug Jung

Review: As most of you know, this movie has made a big splash by unexpectedly airing a Super Bowl commercial, announcing, not only its existence, but that it would be available for streaming on Netflix right after the game. And so, of course, several people who previously had no idea it existed were eager to rush to their Netflix accounts to see it. This was helped by the fact that the trailer promised that the movie would explain how the events of the first film happened. It didn't. Or at least not very well.
It takes place in the future. There is a global energy crisis, and a bunch of astronauts go into space to test out a new source of energy. Things go horribly wrong.
The rest is a really confusing story about parallel universes or something like that. Weird things happen, but we never know why. The movie never explains the rules of the parallel universe, and it just feels like bad things happen to the crew just for the sake of things happening.
But the biggest mystery is how does any of this connect to the other movies. After 10 Cloverfield Lane, I had accepted that these movies may not have taken place in the same universe. But this shows scenes on Earth, where apocalyptic things are randomly happening, and in the end it's revealed that this is the same universe. But was the main story even related to what happened? Did they even land in the same universe. Because the first movie didn't seem to take place in such a bleak future. If it did, then it would probably be even worse that the characters kept filming for so long.
Basically, this is the kind of movie where you think things are going to be explained in the end, but they never are.
The characters are entertaining, but they written pretty generically. The standout is the main character (Mbatha-Raw), who has a troubling past and the performance shows emotional depth. Also, Chris O'Dowd is good at delivering the comic relief moments.
This is still an entertaining movie, but its a very confusing one, that often feels like a second-rate Alien. It was not originally intended to be in the Cloverfield universe, but was re-written to include references to the original, and it shows. The references are forced, and none of it comes together in a way that is satisfying or even makes any sense.

Review: 2 out of 5 stars