The Cloverfield Paradox

"My arm helped us find the Earth!" This was written and filmed by people who love not only the original Cloverfield, but all of the space adventures of Alien, starting with a conversational episode of Star Trek. The Cloverfield Paradox is a strangely likeable film that barely stands on its own two feet and comes up with the most absurd paths to connect to its predecessor, yet it’s the process of connecting to a fictional world in motion that delivers a remarkably unpredictable and entertaining game with the viewer, starting from the opening minutes and ending with a perfectly bizarre last shot. Unfortunately, given the mood and physicality of the previous episodes, this is ultimately a maddeningly uneven project, naively weaving horror elements with over-the-top humour and blatantly ripping off just about any space sci-fi despite the original premise of the overarching plot. The fact that, after the psychologically and directorially tight second one, we get an ordinary B-movie with which less talented filmmakers try to pay tribute to everything and to reveal the mystery of the monster through unconvincing dimensional portals that is simply disappointing. I appreciate a few witty ideas and the effort to maintain a similarly limited narrative that lays down more than it solves, but here it has merely "bitten" more than one good film can chew. (05/02/2018)

It was passable. Although it has almost nothing in common with the previous episodes and is clearly the weakest, it's still watchable. Story-wise, it's a rip-off of all the better known sci-fi properties, but the kills are pretty good. Visually it's OK, and the crew is also passable, there's always something going on, so there's no boredom either, so an average three stars without a problem. 55% (27/02/2018)

The Americans decided to turn the original found footage Cloverfield movie into their cash cow, so they keep shooting one flick from this universe after another. In film in particular, you have to ask yourself what the Monster has to do with a space ship flying somewhere through space. There’s really no logic in this connection. But it’s still a b-movie with the most stellar cast in the last thirty years or so. So technically it looks fine, the cast is good, but you still cannot shake the feeling that you’re watching a terrible bullshit that makes no sense. This movie is a prime example of the thin line separating good sci-fi movies with a message from pieces of horrible crap. (28/04/2020)

It’s good, but far from excellent. I was actually expecting a lot worse, which may have lowered the bar. Imperfect for sure, and the logic is also quite flawed... (where did O'Dowd's hand get the information about the gyroscope, for example, well?), but it is nice to look at. It’s visually stunning and the cast led by Brühl and Elizabeth Debicki is fine too. Actually, only Gugu is pretty bland and he’s the lead! The talked-about connection with Cloverfield was very strong, but fortunately not so much that it was distracting. The plot had a much higher potential, but it turned out to be like a Stargate Atlantis episode of Daedalus squared, with better effects and a few extra scares. Onah should work on the themes and leave the direction to someone who can do it better. (19/02/2023)

Did I really see it, or just dreamed it? The Cloverfield Paradox is the space version of The Room that flies with its silliness to somewhere beyond the boundaries of tastelessness, where it shakes hands with Robot Monster, Turkish Star Wars before heading to infinity. Julius Onah, along with the writers, is the new Tommy Wiseau. I believe that in a few years this will be a stellar addition to The Shockproof Film Festival, and with the help of alcohol it could be an interesting group experience, like when the audience of The Room bombards the screen with plastic spoons during midnight screenings. Hell, yeah! (26/03/2018)