I'm cautiously optimistic that the streaming service won't just become a dumping ground for expensive studio films that don't stand a prayer of making a profit in theaters. My hope is that it will also be a platform for interesting independent films or up-and-coming directors who want to make outside-the-box projects.
That said, The Cloverfield Paradox, an awkward attempt to expand on the universe established with 2008's Cloverfield and 2016's even better 10 Cloverfield Lane, is a really big step in the wrong direction.
Not only does it squander an attractive, diverse and talented young cast (which includes David Oyelowo, Daniel Bruhl and Gugu Mbatha-Raw) but it may also represent the death rattle for a very specific genre of films -- the space-bound horror film.
Ever since Alien became a sensation nearly 40 years ago, Hollywood has mightily attempted to replicate its genius. Ironically, only the sequel to that film (1986's Aliens) ever managed to equal the original in terms of creativity and thrills, but by-and-large these kinds of movies have become boring and predictable.
Ironically, before watching this new Cloverfield film I re-watched 1997's Event Horizon, another Alien rip-off that has a bit of a cult following. That film didn't work because the characters we're strong enough, the scares were more gory than truly frightening and the plot machinations become so cluttered that it becomes impossible to follow the thread, let alone justify the film's existence.
Just over 20 years later, The Cloverfield Paradox makes many of the same mistakes. Although it's absurd to compare it to its predecessors, since it barely makes sense alongside them, it's worth pointing out that the previous two Cloverfield films did a phenomenal job of ratcheting up tension, giving time to really establish their characters and help establish sympathy for their heroes.
This film, however, decides to provide a bare minimum of character development before it plunges into a series of loud, hyper action sequences that increasingly make less sense and are more confusing than compelling.
We've seen all this before. The bickering between crew-members that leads to claustrophobic fist fights, the discovery of a stowaway with a mysterious past, lots of creepy crawly things. But what does it all amount to and why should we care?
I am not someone who goes into films wanting expectations to be fulfilled -- which is why I had no problems with the narrative upheavals of The Last Jedi -- but I do expect to see a coherent story effectively told (unless the director intentionally wants their film to be incoherent, which doesn't appear to be the case here).
Even Ridley Scott's follow-ups to Alien -- Prometheus and Alien: Covenant -- suffer from a lack of justification. They aren't particularly 'fun' and the points they attempt to make about humanity vs. android vs. alien life have been made before (and more effectively) in better movies. So they become essentially very well-produced, very expensive-looking horror films.
The best of the more recent space-based films -- like Gravity -- have smartly avoided supernatural subplots or alien attacks and they had more than enough tension and excitement. But the next time I see a trailer for a film about a crew stranded in space, getting picked off one-by-one, my eyes are gonna glaze over because I have grown tired of what these stories have to offer.
As far as the Cloverfield films go, Paradox creates a conundrum, because what was once a mercurial and mysterious universe has now become something leadenly stupid and obtuse. Perhaps this is the end of this series or at least a call to return to the drawing board.
For now, this ranks as a tremendous waste of time and talent. A nonsense movie that hurts the brand of not just Netflix, but smart sci-fi too.
No comments:
Post a Comment