New Release Birb: The Cloverfield Paradox

The Cloverfield Paradox
Starring: Gugu Mbatha-Raw and David Oyelowo
Directed By: Julius Onah
US Release Date (Netflix): February 4th, 2018
My First Viewing: February 14th, 2018
Image Credit: joblo.com

The third film in the Cloverfield franchise, The Cloverfield Paradox, was first advertised during the first quarter of Super Bowl LII, saying it would be exclusively on Netflix "very soon". Turns out, very soon was at the end of the game. Keeping with the "show don't tell" advertising campaign of its predecessors, 2008's Cloverfield, and 2016's "sequel" 10 Cloverfield Lane, this is becoming much less of a franchise and more of an extended universe.

Originally titled God Particle, The Cloverfield Paradox follows a team of astronauts (the crew including Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oleyowo, Daniel Brühl, and Ziyi Zhang), are trying to come up with a solution to Earth's impending energy crisis. When one of the experiments goes wrong, the team gets knocked into another dimension, where their space and time is different from where they came.

With this being the third different director in this franchise, (Matt Reeves and Dan Trachtenberg being the first two), the issues with this film lie in the story and time continuity. Where does this film fit in the timeline? How do the actions of this film coincide with the previous two films? These are questions that don't really get answered, and that seems to be J.J. Abram's motivation with this franchise. Be vague, and this loose storyline can go on for many, many more movies. But unless there are some signs that we see that this all comes together, the ride can't last forever. Hopefully, the next film (and there will be one sooner than later) will answer some of these questions and go back to the roots of the first two.

The Cloverfield Paradox is rated TV-MA for sci-fi violence and language. What were your thoughts? Post in the comments below and as always, be civil.

-birb

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