Movie Mondays | The Cloverfield Paradox

It’s Monday, again. You know what that means—another long week ahead.

If you’re a sci-fi/horror lover like me, then you might be a little tired today due to Netflix’s awesome announcement last night during the Superbowl. I didn’t really care about the Superbowl. I also didn’t care about halftime, or the commercials. I did care about that announcement, though: right after the Superbowl, The Cloverfield Paradox, previously titled God Particle, would be available to stream. Though it was set for theatrical release later this year, it seems Paramount sold the rights to Netflix, leading to the surprise small-screen release.

When I read the article and found out about the release, there was only 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, which is like, 40 minutes in football-time. So I sat there refreshing the Google live score until the game finally ended, and immediately started streaming the film.

The Cloverfield Paradox is the third installment in the Cloverfield franchise, though each installment is more of a spiritual sequel than an actual one. Though the films center around the same ideas and seem to occur in the same universe as each other, they aren’t linear.

The Cloverfield Paradox seemed to act as a prequel, an origin film if you will, that created the monstrosities attacking Earth in both Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane. But the film is set in 2028, and Earth suffers from a huge energy crisis. So, it is a prequel, but it’s also a sequel. This guy explains it a lot better than I do, so check out this article explaining how all the films connect.

The film focuses on a diverse group of characters aboard a shuttle in space, testing out a machine that could solve the Earth’s energy crisis. Instead, the machine rips a hole in space and time, and transports the crew to an alternate dimension, causing strange and terrifying things to occur. Meanwhile, the machine has unleashed horrific monsters on Earth.

The cast is probably my favorite part of this film.

The story? Not so much. I actually saw 10 Cloverfield Lane before seeing Cloverfield. I had no idea the two were related when I went to see 10 Cloverfield in theaters. Only after watching it and absolutely loving it did I go home and watch the first film. I actually preferred the sequel, and still do, compared to this third installment. The characters were funny and interesting, the jump scares got me, but the story just wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more from it. I did enjoy the film a lot more than the critics, though, who are having a field day tearing this film apart… But this is definitely my least favorite of the franchise. Yes, I even prefer the annoying found-footage film better than this one.

It wasn’t bad, so I do still recommend checking it out. I know I usually only talk about movies in theaters, but since this movie was supposed to hit theaters, and ended up having a pretty epic small-screen release, I figured, why the hell not. I hope you’ve got Netflix…

Even though it’s not the best movie in the world, if you enjoy the Cloverfield franchise and like following the story, you should watch The Cloverfield Paradox.

Oh, and weirdly enough, the fourth installment is coming to theaters (maybe?) this year, too. J. J. Abrams must be pretty bored… Overlord, a sci-fi horror film set during WWII, has been confirmed as another Cloverfield film. Who knows what’ll happen next…