Here we have another somewhat complicated title for me to review. I think altogether, the ideas and underlying messages the movie gives are all well and good. However, when it's all said and done, this also illustrates how much the movie might not completely understand mental health problems and what people have to do in order to manage them. This movie represents that friend we have who is trying to help with all of its good intentions but may be saying all the wrong things to do so. "Spiderhead" itself is a chemical research facility, testing its pharmaceutical chemicals on penitentiary inmates who have volunteered in order to get a reduced sentence. While the hospitable Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth) and his assistant, Mark Verlaine (Mark Paguio) oversee the project, the main test subject we follow is a young man named Jeff (Miles Teller) who is in for having killed his friends while driving drunk. As we watch, he and other test subjects are exposed to a variety of different mood-altering drugs that are meant to help with a lot of everyday problems. For example, there's a love drug that helps with physical attraction and could lead to less loneliness for some people or a fear drug that could potentially allow people to fear things that are ultimately bad for them like sugar, cigarettes or alcohol. That's pretty much the gist of the plot, as it all predictably leads up to something a little more sinister than just experimentation. In the meantime, it should probably be mentioned that there's a certain attachment Jeff has with another inmate named Lizzy (Jurnee Smollett). It's sort of refreshing in that there's a romantic tie there, but a lot of it has to do with their closeness and being able to tell each other anything. It's not just a lovey-dovey thing here so much as it's a mutual respect, best friend thing with attraction at work. And in case a lot of this is making you think of the movie 'Limitless', you're not exactly alone. But 'Limitless' did a much better job of things. 'Limitless' was a cautionary tale more about the overuse/misuse of a hardcore street drug as opposed to an actual pharmaceutical drug. This one feels a lot more like an actual jab at pharmaceutical companies, their potential behind-the-scenes experimentation, and what their full intentions are. I don't generally have a problem with such a thing, but the final narration of the film is something that gets under my skin a bit because, without spoiling anything, it really does seem to try to simplify something that's more complicated than the film lets on. That said, I will say the final message makes a solid point at the same time. Confused? Yeah, me too. Truth be told, in the end, it's hard for me to know what to think of this film on the whole. Going back to the film representing that particular friend we all have in our lives, it's hard to get upset at the film's potential misunderstanding of things as its intentions are good, and the point it makes IS still kind of solid. With all of that said, there's always the chance that I've misinterpreted things entirely and I'm overthinking something that actually IS closer to the cautionary tale that 'Limitless' was. Admittedly, this isn't one of my stronger reviews as my feelings towards it are very personal. In the lineup of Netflix originals, it's probably not one that I can find myself visiting again, and I'd strongly recommend past Netflix titles I've reviewed over this. It strikes me as a film that I will probably end up putting too much thought into despite its intended purpose, but at the same time, I can understand that it's a story about society and its desire to get everything more easily. I'm just completely on the fence with this one. I don't know that I'd say it's as terrible as everyone seems to be saying it is, but I'd also say that it's not one quite meant for someone like me. It's another fine example of "see for yourself". Not much more I can say. 2/5
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Here we have a curious newcomer, providing us with his film debut as both writer and director. The man in question is one, Matthew Reilly. This guy has to be the epitome of someone who sounds altogether familiar, but when you look him up, he hasn't done... basically anything but this (at least for the screen). So with that being said, I'm going to go ahead and give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. For someone's debut, it's not actually that bad for a straight-to-Netflix action movie. This one kind of hits the ground running, as an interceptor launch site in Fort Greely, Alaska is attacked by what is presumed to be a terrorist faction. A second interceptor site is found in an undisclosed area in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, closer to Hawaii. These sites' purpose is to intercept any nuclear warhead launches targeted at American soil. Sent to defend the second site from attack is US Army Captain, JJ Collins (Elsa Pataky), her deployment here mostly due to reported sexual misconduct from one of her superiors, along with a terrible amount of hazing and bullying, and before I get too far with it all, yes, this is a "woke" movie that is generally about highlighting this woman's abilities in the face of adversity. Collins comes on-site as part of the last line of defence after Fort Greely's hostile takeover, working under Lt. Colonel Clark Marshall (Rhys Muldoon) command. She further works with Beaver Baker (Aaron Glenane), whose personality suits his name as the token toxic male character, and Corporal Raul Shah (Mayen Mehta), a not-so-confident pencil-pusher type who, for some reason, they chose to work at this facility. I have to say, Shah is not my favourite character type, and some of the lines this guy has to say are kind of ridiculous. Actually, a good chunk of this movie is kind of ridiculous. Anyway, eventually, Collins finds herself against all odds as the facility is, of course, eventually infiltrated by a terrorist team led by ex-military intelligence soldier, Alexander Kessel (Luke Bracey). As I was watching this guy though, in a weird way, I started to wonder if the great Hank Scorpio of 'Simpsons' fame (possibly the single-greatest one-off character that show ever had, Season 8, Episode 2) inspired this guy in some ways. He's not exactly the same guy or anything, not even with a similar personality. However, just a few decisions and lines the guy delivers is just enough to make you want to watch that episode all over again. I think my biggest takeaways from this were that 1, this was definitely written as a woke movie with a fair amount of almost forced "girl power" within. I DO NOT have a problem with this idea, but I still think there's a right way and a wrong way to write that kind of role. It seems the best way is to just write the hero role with no gender in mind - 'Alien' pulled this off incredibly well, and that's going back to 1979! But listen, don't let me take anything away from anyone, either. The truth of the matter is that Collins is still a pretty fun action hero to follow, and one can take some of her cheesiness with a grain of salt. If you can think of her as a Schwarzenegger type - in other words, she's there simply to be a strong hero with an odd (perhaps lame) one-liner. I think if you can go into this with the right mind-set, you can still be entertained by it. It's important to remember a bunch of stuff going into this, however, and the big one is the idea of this being one man's directorial AND screenwriting debut. The saving grace is actually probably his co-writer, Stuart Beattie, who one might recognize from writing for the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies, along with golden gems like 'GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra', 'I, Frankenstein' and '30 Days of Night' (okay, so maybe not so much sarcasm on that last title, which I admittedly enjoy). The other thing is not to take it too seriously - it can fit nicely into the "dumb, fun action" category if you allow it to. It's not something I'll rush to watch again, but I was entertained as long as I thought of it as a video game movie that wasn't based on a video game. 2/5 Folks, it would appear that there is a director out there who has captured my interest with his titles lately, and that is Shawn Levy. Up until now, Levy has been a name with a familiar ring to it for me, but not someone whose film library I'd be able to list very easily. For those who might fall under the same category, his directorial credits include 'Free Guy', eight episodes of 'Stranger Things', 'Date Night', and a few other "lesser" titles. Like a fine wine, however, this guy seems to improve with age. Although I feel like this could have been good for a big-screen experience, it (along with several other Netflix originals lately) finds itself entertaining us perfectly fine in the comfort of our own homes. It's getting very cool to see streaming service originals sort of "upgraded" from what they once were, and this one is no exception. I mean, this thing opens up with an incredible parallel to 'Guardians of the Galaxy', as our lead, Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds), steels a time jet and escapes his chasers through a wormhole, taking him back from 2050 to 2022. Here, he meets his 12-year-old self (Walker Scobell), whose father (Mark Ruffalo) has recently been killed in a car accident, and mother (Jennifer Garner) has been dealing with it since. Part of her dealing is Adam getting suspended from school, and being somewhat distant from her. As a result, a good chunk of this movie addresses the idea of going back to give your younger self some life advice - something I think we'd all love to be able to do. But the cool thing is that things work the other way around, too, suggesting that we were never once "just dumb kids". Anyway, back to the plot, older Adam has accidentally crash-landed in 2022 due to a struggle during his escape. His aim, however, was to get to 2018, where he has learned that his wife, Laura (Zoe Saldaña) may have travelled back to and gotten herself trapped. All the while, he's being chased by the leader of a 2050's dystopian future, Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener) and her badass lieutenant, Christos (Alex Mallari Jr.). Maya, basically being the self-proclaimed mother of time travel (unofficially). There's a twist here and a turn there, and soon it becomes less about the rescue mission and more about doing what's right. Now, can we just take a second to talk about Walker Scobell? This his his screen debut at 13 years old, and he Ryan Reynolds' the hell out of his role here. I swear, they found the perfect kid to play him, and that much is evident the second we're introduced. I've said this in the past (and on my past site) about young, rising stars (including Chloe Grace Moretz after 'Kick-Ass', Saoirse Ronan after 'The Lovely Bones') but this is a kid to keep an eye on. Let's face it, being a good match for a young Ryan Reynolds would probably be a good start if you're just starting your acting career. As for the rest of the film, it does appear that I'm a bit of an odd man out when it comes to how much I enjoyed this. But what can I say? It just struck a chord with me. And I'm not necessarily bias towards Ryan Reynolds, as you might see in my review for 'The Voices'. I also wasn't too fond of 2005's 'Amityville Horror'. As a person, he seems pretty awesome though, and I'd like to have a beer or two with the guy. I don't know if it's the idea of talking to your younger self, the wonderful casting or the fact that I experienced a good range of emotions with it, but I loved it! 4/5 Netflix originals are pretty interesting altogether. They started out as very "straight-to-TV" quality films, but as time has gone on (and other streaming services have blossomed), Netflix is one that seems to keep progressing in quality, and keeping up with its competition. While Disney+ is great for big budget quality, and Amazon is great for story (usually), Netflix does a great job of meeting it all in the middle most of the time. 'Red Notice' was one that caught my eye, mostly due to the cast seen on the movie poster. I almost always have fun when Dwayne Johnson is involved, I DO always have fun when Ryan Reynolds is involved, and it's an opportunity to see Gal Gadot in something where she isn't Wonder Woman (although that first film is still awesome). On top of that, director Rawson Marshall Thurber is an interesting specimen - directing movies like 'We're the Millers' and 'Dodgeball', and even playing the Subway Guy in 'Easy A'. Being a fan of all of this, it was a bit of a no-brainer for me to check it out. We start off with a tale of love taking place in ancient Egypt, where Marcus Antonius presents Cleopatra with three bejeweled eggs as a wedding gift. Two of these eggs are eventually found in 1907, but the third remains a mystery. In present day, FBI Agent John Hartley (Johnson) is assigned to help Interpol agent Urvashi Das (Ritu Arya) with investigating a possible theft involving one of the eggs, which resides at the Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. This is where he runs into professional art thief, Nolan Booth (Reynolds), who manages to take the egg. However, after a good, long chase, Hatley manages to place him under arrest, and take the egg back. This, however, leads to two unfortunate things for Hartley. On one hand, the egg is unknowingly stolen again by other professional art thief, Sarah Black (Gadot), also known as "The Bishop". This leads to Das' mistrust of Hartley, and placing him under arrest, as he looks so suspicious. And then that leads to Hartley sharing a cell with Booth where eventually they end up working together. Hartley can bring down the Bishop once and for all, while Hartley promises Booth that he'd gain a reputation as the world's greatest art thief. Plus if, if they can find all three eggs and deliver them to an Egyptian billionaire by his daughter's wedding, there's plenty of wealth to be had in rewards. All in all, this feels like your average summer blockbuster to me. It uses the "buddy" formula, there's a whole lot of suspension of disbelief necessary. But in the long run, I have to say that this is a fun action, crime comedy where Reynolds and Rocky actually play very well off each other. Think about what it would look like to see the 'Fast & Furious' Hobbs teamed up with Deadpool, because that's essentially what you get here. That may not be the greatest combo for some, as their characters may feel a touch redundant altogether, but I had a lot of fun with this despite any problems it may have had. 4/5 Before Zack Snyder was known as the DC Universe guy, and everyone was craving his extra special cuts, he may have been best known for breathing new life into 2004's 'Dawn of the Dead' remake - one of the few remakes in existence than paralleled or, to some, even outdid the original. For me, 'Army of the Dead' has quite a few similarities, and I think there's definitely something here for those who enjoyed his 'Dawn of the Dead'. On a personal note, I appreciated seeing Snyder go back to his roots after his much anticipated cut of 'Justice League' here. But did it pay off? It all opens with a military convoy, transporting something confidential from Area 51. They collide with a recently married couple, and unleash a genetically-engineered zombie in the process. Infection starts with a couple of soldiers, and soon spreads throughout Las Vegas. However, before the spread goes haywire, things are eventually contained, and Vegas becomes one big quarantine for the undead. This is all shown in the opening, which is actually a great homage to Snyder's work on 'Dawn', complete with Richard Cheese and Allison Crowe singing their rendition of 'Viva Las Vegas' while the chaos ensues in slow motion. This is very similar to 'Zombieland' as well, but given the musical choice, it's definitely Snyder asking us if we missed him - and the answer, for me, is yes! An ex-mercenary named Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) works as a fry cook now since the quarantine. Like many, he lost his wife to the zombie attack, and became estranged from his daughter, Kate (Ella Purnell) after having to put her mother down. He is approached by casino owner, Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) with an offer; he assembles a team to go into Vegas and retrieve $200 million from a casino vault before the city is destroyed with a tactical nuke. Agreeing, Ward assembles a team; former colleagues Maria Cruz (Ana de la Reguera), Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick) and helicopter pilot, Marianne Peters (Tig Notaro). He further brings in safecracker Ludwig Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer), sharpshooter Mikey Guzman (Raúl Castillo), and Guzman's partner, Chambers (Samantha Win). Last additions to the team include Martin (Garret Dillahunt) who will allow them access into the casino, a smuggler wo knows the city named Lilly, known as "The Coyote" (Nora Arnezeder) and, upon learning that her friend Geeta is trapped somewhere in there, Kate joins up too, much to Ward's dismay. What follows is essentially exactly what one might expect as the team heads in for the cash, risking their lives in order to live well for the rest of them if they manage to survive. That said, one can't exactly say that you get they typical zombie stuff going on here. This time around, the zombies for a sort of "kingdom" in their quarantine, and have grown somewhat intelligent - right down to them essentially having their own king and queen. But if that's not enough, we also have a zombie tiger named Valentine who highlights this movie in the same way that guitar freak did for 'Mad Max: Fury Road'. I enjoy a good zombie movie, but I enjoy them much more when they bring something new to the table. I have never seen a zombie tiger before, myself (although I understand one might appear somewhere in 'Walking Dead'; a show I stopped paying attention to after Season 5) but that was total badassery. I further enjoyed seeing Dave Bautista in something where he can flex a bit more of his serious acting skills, and it's interesting how this can be seen as another take on society. If 'Dawn of the Dead' was a comment on consumerism, this could be seen as a comment on gambling; the idea being that it sort of zombifies our brain, or we become "brainwashed", if you will. So while it does, in a way, remain just another zombie movie, I felt like there was something a little bit more special about it on a personal level. In a weird way, this made me somewhat nostalgic, as so much of it actually did remind me of 'Dawn of the Dead'. I might suggest that 'Dawn' was what sparked the recent zombie craze, 'Walking Dead' brought it to its peak, and this almost represents a look back on things over the past decade plus. There is still some originality to this as well, proving that certain simplicities still haven't been done with the genre - in this case, a heist. So for those of us who like Snyder's take on the zombie trend and really know how to have fun with a zombie gore-fest, I can highly recommend checking this one out. It's kind of a blast. 4/5 Another Netflix title that has been floating in front of my face for quite some time without me clicking on it has been 'Love and Monsters'. I don't really know what took me so long, considering this is a concept so far up my alley it kinda hurts when I think about it. I love a good survival movie, I love a lot of creativity when it comes to creatures, and I love when a character takes time to develop as we learn more and more about them; the "zero to hero" situation, but not too rapidly. The story opens with a little backstory in which an asteroid has crash-landed into Earth (and even the film makes a jab at it being unoriginal). The chemical fallout from the destruction has caused cold-blooded creatures to mutate into giant monsters, decimating most of the human race. When his hometown of Fairfield is evacuated, Joel Dawson (Dylan O'Brien) gets separated from his parents (Andrew Buchanan and Tandi Wright) and girlfriend, Aimee (Jessica Henwick). He is picked up by a group of survivors, and has since been living underground with the knowledge that his parents are now dead, and Aimee is far away at another underground colony. As the next seven years pass, Colonies are able to keep in touch via radio, and everyone within Joel's colony has paired off. One day, Joel gets in touch with Aimee through the radio. Remembering a promise he made to find her again, he's nudged into action and decides to roam through the dangers of the surface in order to see his promise through - even if it has been seven years since he last saw her. His colony isn't entirely supportive, however, as Joel has a pretty serious problem when it comes to these mutant monsters; he freezes. To them, he might as well be a worm dangling on a hook. Joel won't let them keep him down though, and he heads out, as he feels he doesn't have much else to lose. Along the way, Joel befriends several characters. It starts with a dog named Boy (Hero/Dodge) who happens to be a faithful and protective companion. This is one of those animal roles where you fall in love with him almost instantly. On top of that, we also get survivalists Clyde (Michael Rooker) and Minnow (Ariana Greenblatt) who teach Joel a thing or two about what it means to survive on the surface. Perhaps the most important lesson is that, though dangerous, some of these creatures aren't just out for blood. There is definitely an underlying message here about environment and human treatment of animals, but thankfully, it's not in your face. This is an adventure story first, and a message second. The film's CG might look a touch low-budget here and there, but for a Netflix original, it's entirely passable. The truth is, I found a lot of the creature designs really cool, creative, and even gruesome in all the right ways. What makes this one really special for me is the idea that Joel has set out on his own for this adventure. It could be compared to something like 'Into the Wild' in that sense, and personally, I have a real thing for the solo adventurer. I feel like there's a bit more room for development, and in this, we laugh, cry, and even get a little anxious while we take this adventure with Joel. While there are certainly movies similar to it, and a lot of things here might remind you of 'Zombieland', I found it interesting that one of the biggest nods I found here was towards 'Stand by Me'. This wasn't a constant, but it does combine a long journey, the song itself, and even a scene involving leaches - which are much worse than the ones found in 'Stand by Me'. In my opinion, this is one that's really worth checking out for just about anyone. It may have a few creepy-crawly frightening scenes for younger viewers, but the story is solid, and I found myself routing for Joel quite often. You want him to get over his fears and succeed, especially when certain scenes stop the movie to warm your heart up. Despite a few little odds and ends, this is one I can easily recommend. 4/5 Here we have a title that keeps popping up on my Netflix suggestions, and I have to admit that there was always a part of me sort of curious about checking it out. Right from the get-go, you can pretty much understand that it doesn't seem to be a movie taking itself seriously, and both McCarthy and Spencer seemed like a pair that would be enjoyable to watch from a contrast perspective. I knew this wasn't going to be like watching an 'Avengers' flick, so I wasn't entirely surprised to learn that in the end, it wasn't all that enjoyable. The film takes place in an alternate reality where some electro-magnetic pulse (or something along those lines) has mutated people giving them superpowers. The select few, however, were all violent sociopaths, and therefore the world has been taken over by supervillains with no superheroes to balance things out. As children, we meet the brilliant Emily Stanton (Bria Danielle Singleton/Tai Leshaun/Octavia Spencer) who befriends tough girl, Lydia Berman (Vivian Falcone/Mia Kaplan/Melissa McCarthy), and together they dream of one day being able to put a stop to the destruction these "Miscreants" cause. Eventually, in their teenage years, the pair drift apart, as Emily is constantly distracted by her schoolwork and Lydia wants to have a bit more fun. Years pass, and their high school reunion approaches, so Lydia contacts Emily about going. When Emily doesn't show up, Lydia heads to her lab to pick her up and stumbles on an important experiment - the potential to give superhuman powers to average people, accidentally injecting herself with a "super strength" serum. From there, plans go forward for the ladies to live out their dreams, and bring down a crime lord running for Mayor, calling himself The King (Bobby Cannavale), along with his most dangerous henchwoman, Laser (Pom Klementieff), and true neutral henchman, The Crab (Jason Bateman); a character who makes for the most bizarre turn in the film, being a dude with crab claws who Lydia seemingly falls for. This is a film that isn't entirely without its moments, and parts of it were humorous along the same lines as something like 'The Tick'. It does the superhero thing, but leans on a sort of weird reality. Once again, The Crab is probably the best example of this, as he's also pretty mild-mannered. But the film does take some odd cuts and make you wonder what the hell you just watched, or why it's necessary. One way they attempt humour here is definitely in the "gross-out" way. This is done a few times, but none of which is more nasty than the idea of Lydia developing an insatiable appetite for raw chicken - this is a side-effect of the serum. They really throw it in your face here, and you're just not laughing at it. I have to mention that there are a lot of pretty stupid decisions made throughout the film, not the least of which is the climactic sequence. I won't spoil it, but let's just say it tries to tug on the heart strings while you're sitting there going "wait, why didn't you just do this?" - yeah, it's one of those movies. There's not much depth to it, and it can be fun if you're in the right mood. But I personally didn't get much out of it, often wondering if it was just trying too hard. That said, however, it is a Netflix original, so it's not like you're paying full-price for it if you decide to check it out. Who knows? Maybe you can get more out of it that I did. 2/5 This was one that intrigued me a little from the get-go. I was never very excited for it, but my curiosity was bound to eventually get the better of me. As a kid, I wasn't super heavy into young detective stories like 'The Hardy Boys', but a lot of what I read still had some mystery to it. When this popped up, I thought it might be a fun trip back to the days of reading some of those young teen-level stories - especially since it didn't look all cheesed up with effects or trying to be too modern. This was something that looked pretty legit, and upon finally seeing it, I'm pretty happy to say that I got pretty much what I wanted out of it. Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) is an independent thinking young woman who goes against the social norms of the time, and has a parallel intelligence to her uncle, the famous Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill). Her name, "Alone" spelled backwards, is thanks to her insistent mother, Eudoria's (Helena Bonham Carter) passion for word games. Furthering the idea of the name, her independence is derived from her mothers teachings, as she has gone through her youth learning things like Ju-Jitsu for self defense, Chess for strategic intellect, and archery, which is sadly not used as often as I'd like to have seen. As mother and daughter, they have always been very close. On Enola's 16th birthday, however, Eudoria goes missing, leaving behind a few birthday gifts. A week after her mother goes missing, matters get more complicated for Enola. She suddenly finds herself under the care of her strict and stern uncle Mycroft (Sam Claflin), who arrives by train with Sherlock, and intends on sending her to a finishing school to make her into a "proper" woman. Enola has other plans, however, and manages to follow clues left behind by her mother in order to escape to London and search for her. Enter a young runaway Lord named Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge), and Enola ends up on a sidetracked path trying to help the young man, using her own detective skills. I see this as being along the lines of a youth-friendly detective story, much like 'Harriet the Spy' or a 'Nancy Drew' mystery. We follow a young, female detective on her journey, there's mystery and intrigue along the way, and its target audience is young women in their early to mid teens. For such an audience, I'll put my cards on the table and admit that I see potential in this being an inspiring story in all the right ways. Being a 38-year-old guy, it's not necessarily aimed at me, but I can say that if I had an impressionable daughter, this is one of those movies I'd love to be one of her favorites. They cover a lot of what it meant to be a young woman in the late 1800s, and it does so with a certain sense of humor. Add to that her independence and the idea that she's as capable as her famous uncle, and it all comes out positive. I admit that there does seem to be something of a love-interest situation going on between Enola and Tewkesbury, but I'm happy to say that it's mostly hints and not at all in your face. Think about how it worked in 'Wonder Woman' or 'Captain America', and it's quite similar. Whatever is there is more of an afterthought than the story we're following. All in all, I got what the movie was doing and who it was generally for, but I'm happy to say that I still managed to have a bit of fun with it. Despite the idea that I'm not its target audience, it is cool to see Millie Bobby Brown really act here. Child actors develop their skills over time, so with 'Stranger Things' and 'Godzilla', she was still an up-and-comer. I feel like she broke out with this one, however, and I predict very positive things for her down the line. So, I think that if you're someone who has a daughter at a fairly impressionable age, I might highly recommend sitting down and checking this out with her. There are plenty of positive messages throughout, and the film does what it sets out to do. I simply can't deny that this is a positive film in many ways, even if it does get a little heavy on the boy-bashing (which is something I'm personally super nit-picky about anyway, so it's likely exaggerated in my mind). Just know that you're absolutely not watching this to see Sherlock Holmes in action - he's really more of a cameo, and a cool way to connect Enola in the sense that the story is about how she can do what he can do, maybe even better, if only give the chance. It's a Netflix original, so if you're a subscriber, head on over and check it out for yourself. 3/5 I'll just cut to the chase here. This film starts in the year 2028, where Earth is in the middle of an energy crisis, on a global scale. As a result, the Shepard particle accelerator is to be tested on board the Cloverfield space station. Some believe it to be a new source of energy that can fuel mankinds needs for an infinite amount of time. On the other hand, some worry about the "Cloverfield Paradox", which suggests that they could open dimensions, allowing for things like the Cloverfield monster to come through and terrorize Earth. It even goes so far as to suggest demons. Long story short, they test the accelerator, shit happens, and that's the basic time travel/interdimensional travel story behind where the Cloverfield monster comes from, and that's pretty much all you get. The rest of it is a rough, mish-mash of horror elements taking place on board the Cloverfield station, including a crew member of the same ship from another dimension, and for whatever reason, the ship goes after Chris O'Dowd (by the way, he's in this), seemingly trying to eat him alive, or at the very least kill him. And I just don't get it. I'll buy into interdimensional travel, I'll buy into time travel, but I can't buy into the ship just starting to do weird shit. I mean, I guess we're to assume it's possessed? After all, the crazy guy on the TV suggested it. The bottom line is that pretty much everything that happens on the ship is it's own little horror show, very closely following varying 'Firefly' plot threads. On the other hand, we get the thing that I always thought a 'Cloverfield' sequel should be; the monster attack from a different perspective. If it were me, I'd have tried to make this a trilogy about the attack that night, each time revealing more and more important information about the creature. Perhaps even filmed in different styles. But hey, they decided to give us angry John Goodman in a vault instead. This here, is about as close as it comes. That story follows our lead, Hamilton's (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) fiance, husband, boyfriend... partner? Michael (Roger Davies). I can't reember if it was explained. Anyway, Hamilton's up in space in another dimension in another time... This is actually where it gets super confusing. 'Cloverfield', I believe, took place in "modern day", which would have been 2008. 'The Coverfield Paradox' takes place in 2028. So when the whole disaster scenario goes down, there's reason to believe that on that particular Earth that they're floating above consists of Hamilton's partner. But the on-Earth scenes have the Cloverfield monster wandering around, suggesting that it's suddenly 2008? It broke my brain. I finally gave it the benefit of the doubt, I GUESS, and said "screw it, it's all a different dimension whenever something stupid happens". Anyway, for my money, this was mostly a throw-away. I didn't particularly like '10 Cloverfield Lane' either. For my money, the first one was the only one that held any weight, and that was mostly due to how it was made at that time. The overall story of that movie is very simple and obvious. But at the same time, it's hard for me to be too entirely mad at it for at least offering a bit more of an explanation behind the creature. It never upset me in the first movie because the mystery, intrigue and the found footage lent itself an explanation not necessarily needing to be offered. That said, I always hoped there would eventually be one. And this nudges it forward, but doesn't do it justice after all this time. I haven't given a bad rating in a while, so this is a pretty good place to start. 1/5 |