The Cloverfield Paradox: A Step Down for the Cloverfield Franchise.

Ever since the mysterious marketing started for J.J. Abrams Cloverfield back in 2008, moviegoers have been unlocking every detail hidden in the movie's ARG (Alternate Reality Game). Cloverfield was undoubtedly a smart marketing technique in a world where movie trailers spoil everything. The first trailer for Cloverfield dropped before Transformers and didn't even reveal its title, only the release date was shown: 1-18-08. The same marketing was used for the movie's sequel, 10 Cloverfield Lane. The trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane dropped just 2 months before the movie premiered and got all the people talking about it. Now, we have a surprise release of the third Cloverfield movie titled The Cloverfield Paradox. Netflix shocked everyone by premiering the trailer during the Superbowl and announcing that it will be available right after the game.

The movie follows a group of astronauts aboard a space station who are testing a particle accelerator as an alternative energy source. At one point, The Shepard (the particle accelerator) overloads and makes the Earth vanish. The astronauts find themselves in a dark-alternate reality where the laws of the universe don't always apply.

From this synopsis alone, all of the cloverfans were very excited to see where the franchise will head next, after the psychological-thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane. So, when the film dropped right after the Superbowl, all of the cloverfans rushed over to their nearest screens and watched the movie. Surprisingly for the franchise, fans weren't too happy with the final product, looking at how well the previous sequel was. Eventhough, the movie had interesting ideas and raised intellectual questions, unfortunately, it did not reach full potential. The set design and the acting stood out for me the most and the film works very well as stand-alone SC-FI flick. Well it may as fit into the Cloverfield franchise, it raises more questions than it does answering them.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw was a very strong lead character and made the viewer really root for her. Due to her tragic situation and exhibiting the traits of an everyday person, her character manages to grasp the viewer from start to finish. David Oyelowo, Daniel Brühl, John Ortiz, Chris O' Dowd, Aksel Hennie, Zhang Ziyi, and Elizabeth Debicki all do a good job in portraying the fellow astronauts aboard the space station and feel as one team. I really applaud the director for making the main characters African-American because it causes a huge diversity for blockbuster movies and making this practice more common in Hollywood, like last year's Get Out and the upcoming Black Panther.

My main problem with the movie is the writing. The writing is probably not the worst but it is below average and its seen throughout the film, from the dialogue to the characters' actions. The ending was also a little bit hard to believe and cliche. The movie is certainly below the standards of the franchise.

In the end, The Cloverfield Paradox is a worthy addition to the Cloverfield franchise but doesn't reach the potential it had in its hands.

Score: 6.5/10

55/100

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