A movie being pushed back multiple times and then being put on Netflix is almost never a good sign. That being said I was still excited for this film as I really enjoy the first two films in the Cloverfield franchise. Not to mention the crazy plan to release it alongside its first trailer was a wild marketing move, that I'd say worked as a lot of people are watching it. Unfortunately this film doesn't live up to the films it follows.
In this entry into what is more of an anthology than a traditional franchise, a group of scientists aboard a space station are testing a device to solve the Earth's energy crisis. When this experiment goes wrong they are placed in an alternate reality full of terrifying, sci-fi horror cliches.
I feel as though I could give this film a passing grade of at least 3/5 if the script was much better. While the film follows a lot of tropes from films like Alien, or Life, it does enough different to push itself away from those films. The biggest difference I'd say is that no alien is picking off the crew, more a series of strange occurrences are. So the story isn't overly original, but in some cases films with generic plots can be quite well done if they're written well. The dialogue in this film is at times straight up awful. The film has a very talented cast doing their best to make the most of it, but there are times where it's just too poorly written. There are also moments where tension and suspense are built with tired cliches and jump scares that did nothing for me. Due to that I can't say the direction was very good, but there are parts where I think Julius Onah did a decent job. This film has some pretty solid production elements to somewhat make up for the writing and direction. The set design is really good. I didn't get the sense of knowing where on the station everything was that I would have liked, but everything is designed very well. The costumes are quite well done as well. I loved the score for this movie. It takes elements from the first two films and does a lot to make up for the lack of tension building through the direction.
As I said before, this is a very good cast. Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays a British scientist and is the central protagonist. I'd say she does a pretty damn good job. David Oyelowo and Daniel Bruhl are two other veteran actors that I think did a fairly good job with what they were given. The only other actor I think is worth mentioning is Chris O'Dowd. I really like Chris O'Dowd. When he has good material to work with I think he can turn in some great performances, but this film does him no favours. I'd say O'Dowd gets the worst of the crummy dialogue and just does not make it work. His delivery is hokey and he really doesn't interact with the circumstances they're in well at all.
As for how the film ties in with Cloverfield, it does a bit more than 10 Cloverfield Lane. There are some scenes down on Earth of Mbatha-Raw's character's husband and I would've liked to see a lot more of it, as I believe he is in New York where the monster is attacking. That sub-plot isn't explored very much but it leads to an ending that I think will excite Cloverfield fans quite a bit.
While this film disappointed me and didn't offer much new, I still had a decent time watching it, and I'm still excited for whatever comes next in the franchise. This is one of those films I wouldn't suggest you rush out to the theatre to see, but it's on Netflix so give it a watch and see what you think.
Rating:2.5/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
In this entry into what is more of an anthology than a traditional franchise, a group of scientists aboard a space station are testing a device to solve the Earth's energy crisis. When this experiment goes wrong they are placed in an alternate reality full of terrifying, sci-fi horror cliches.
I feel as though I could give this film a passing grade of at least 3/5 if the script was much better. While the film follows a lot of tropes from films like Alien, or Life, it does enough different to push itself away from those films. The biggest difference I'd say is that no alien is picking off the crew, more a series of strange occurrences are. So the story isn't overly original, but in some cases films with generic plots can be quite well done if they're written well. The dialogue in this film is at times straight up awful. The film has a very talented cast doing their best to make the most of it, but there are times where it's just too poorly written. There are also moments where tension and suspense are built with tired cliches and jump scares that did nothing for me. Due to that I can't say the direction was very good, but there are parts where I think Julius Onah did a decent job. This film has some pretty solid production elements to somewhat make up for the writing and direction. The set design is really good. I didn't get the sense of knowing where on the station everything was that I would have liked, but everything is designed very well. The costumes are quite well done as well. I loved the score for this movie. It takes elements from the first two films and does a lot to make up for the lack of tension building through the direction.
As I said before, this is a very good cast. Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays a British scientist and is the central protagonist. I'd say she does a pretty damn good job. David Oyelowo and Daniel Bruhl are two other veteran actors that I think did a fairly good job with what they were given. The only other actor I think is worth mentioning is Chris O'Dowd. I really like Chris O'Dowd. When he has good material to work with I think he can turn in some great performances, but this film does him no favours. I'd say O'Dowd gets the worst of the crummy dialogue and just does not make it work. His delivery is hokey and he really doesn't interact with the circumstances they're in well at all.
As for how the film ties in with Cloverfield, it does a bit more than 10 Cloverfield Lane. There are some scenes down on Earth of Mbatha-Raw's character's husband and I would've liked to see a lot more of it, as I believe he is in New York where the monster is attacking. That sub-plot isn't explored very much but it leads to an ending that I think will excite Cloverfield fans quite a bit.
While this film disappointed me and didn't offer much new, I still had a decent time watching it, and I'm still excited for whatever comes next in the franchise. This is one of those films I wouldn't suggest you rush out to the theatre to see, but it's on Netflix so give it a watch and see what you think.
Rating:2.5/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
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