 | Genre: Sci Fi, Horror |
Set partly on a spaceship conducting energy-creating experiments and partly on the energy deprived world, it's again unclear if this is the same world or story as before. For most of the film, the threat below is unknown and the main 'monster' is the quantum weirdness going on aboard the spaceship. There is some body horror, as disgusting as it is scary, slowly and steadily revealing the extent of the bizarrity. The unexplainable stays unexplained, and the explainable is trickled out to keep the tension high. Where is Earth? What is happening on Earth? What happened when the energy core overloaded?
Focusing on one of the group of astronauts and following her husband on Earth is a good technique, keeping the globally-impactful events relevant on a personal level and tying a strong link between the two. The believable performances of all involved keep us interested in whether they will survive and whether the couple will reunite. Likewise, the personal connection grounds the scientific elements and advancements that are fitting for it's potentially future setting.
It's strange for a sequel to the outstanding and successful Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane, but this link is this film's downfall. It's a standard sci fi, not the innovative horror that the other two were. The mystery of Cloverfield is a core part of it's found footage subgenre, with the audience forcibly as uninformed as the characters. The central premise of 10 Cloverfield Lane is whether or not the kidnapper is lying. The plot of both focuses more on the immediate problems faced by the individuals than the overarching danger or the how and why. The Cloverfield Paradox at once distances itself and fails to live up to the name by trying to be mysterious AND giving us an informed perspective. When the audience can work out what's happened at the same speed as a team of accomplished scientists, the mystery is not one.
The ending does end with the kaiju theme and surprise reveal that makes Cloverfield a great series. With the protagonist astronaut finally returning home in assumed triumph, her husband suddenly reveals that he doesn't want her to return; it's not just the energy and human chaos, it's that the planet is overrun with enormous monsters. It feels like an Easter Egg in it's reveal, and is fun for those that loved the first two, but doesn't make up for the rest of the let downs.
Focusing on one of the group of astronauts and following her husband on Earth is a good technique, keeping the globally-impactful events relevant on a personal level and tying a strong link between the two. The believable performances of all involved keep us interested in whether they will survive and whether the couple will reunite. Likewise, the personal connection grounds the scientific elements and advancements that are fitting for it's potentially future setting.
It's strange for a sequel to the outstanding and successful Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane, but this link is this film's downfall. It's a standard sci fi, not the innovative horror that the other two were. The mystery of Cloverfield is a core part of it's found footage subgenre, with the audience forcibly as uninformed as the characters. The central premise of 10 Cloverfield Lane is whether or not the kidnapper is lying. The plot of both focuses more on the immediate problems faced by the individuals than the overarching danger or the how and why. The Cloverfield Paradox at once distances itself and fails to live up to the name by trying to be mysterious AND giving us an informed perspective. When the audience can work out what's happened at the same speed as a team of accomplished scientists, the mystery is not one.
The ending does end with the kaiju theme and surprise reveal that makes Cloverfield a great series. With the protagonist astronaut finally returning home in assumed triumph, her husband suddenly reveals that he doesn't want her to return; it's not just the energy and human chaos, it's that the planet is overrun with enormous monsters. It feels like an Easter Egg in it's reveal, and is fun for those that loved the first two, but doesn't make up for the rest of the let downs.
