'The Cloverfield Paradox' Review

The Cloverfield Paradox chronicles the unexpected results of a scientific experiment involving a particle accelerator aboard a space station as the crew become isolated and must fight for their survival.

In all honesty, I was not expecting to be reviewing this film anytime soon... It had bounced around with a couple different release dates in the past year and I had no idea if it would ever see the light of day... For those who don't know about The Cloverfield Paradox's marketing stunt, the film had no prior promotion before the Super Bowl whatsoever... Then they released a thirty second teaser and announced it would be available to stream on Netflix hours later after the game. Now, this idea is entirely unprecedented and Netflix literally made history last night. Sure, there had been rumblings about the the film going to Netflix these past few weeks and there were also rumors that surfaced just before the game about it being available afterwards, but still, they were just rumors. There was little confirmation. However, Paramount, Bad Robot, and J.J. Abrams pulled off another insane marketing stunt with the help of Netflix. As a marketing major myself, I couldn't help but admire their audacity!! Honestly, once the Avengers: Infinity War TV spot aired, I was ready for the game to end so I could finally watch the third entry to the Cloverfield franchise.

Marketing gimmicks aside, you came here to read my thoughts on the film itself, correct? Well... I'm going to be especially vague on plot details to avoid spoilers, but without further ado, here we go! The Cloverfield Paradox is another anthology entry following Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane, meaning it's not a direct sequel to the others but takes place in the same universe with slight connections to the other two entries in the series. The film's directed by Julius Onah and features a screenplay written by Oren Uziel and Doug Jung. Onah seems to tap right into the franchise's core sensibility of suspense while bringing another genre to the forefront. Where Cloverfield was a found-footage monster movie and 10 Cloverfield Lane was a claustrophobic thriller, The Cloverfield Paradox is a sci-fi horror.

I've already seen some comparing it to Alien, but to me, it was hardly anything like Alien... If anything, I actually appreciated that the crew's situation was entirely unlike the one we're used to seeing in those films. This crew was facing something completely different, and I liked that change of pace for the genre considering how Life was such an Alien rip-off last year. My only issues were that some crew members were underdeveloped, the film was a little slow to get going, it fell into some of the space station movie tropes, and that it seemed really odd that the term "Cloverfield" was used so often in universe considering neither of the last two films did that... I'm not into all the ARG stuff so I could be wrong, but it just seemed odd to me regardless. Overall, I liked the visual effects, performances, Bear McCreary's spectacular score, and how Dan Mindel effectively navigated capturing a claustrophobic setting as cinematographer.

The stand-out cast members were undoubtedly Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Daniel Brühl, Chris O' Dowd, and David Oyelowo, who each turned in a fine performance. Mbatha-Raw, in particular, really impressed me as Ava Hamilton and made for an engaging lead character that I could really get behind as I was especially intrigued by her character's central conflict. On the flip-side, Elizabeth Debicki seemed to act a little wooden and stilted, which didn't quite work for the character. Her motivations also seemed to suddenly shift at one point, and while I understood why she did what she did, the change took me a bit off-guard. All the other members of the ensemble were good in the capacity utilized.

While I wouldn't go as far to calling The Cloverfield Paradox the best Cloverfield movie, I consider it an interesting addition to the anthology and think it's well worth watching from the comfort of your own home. For the most part, I felt The Cloverfield Paradox was successful in what it set out to achieve by connecting the grand Cloverfield-verse while providing some impressive visuals and stimulating space thrills along the way. 

Film Assessment: B-

Throwback Thursday Review: 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'

Sorry for what may seem like a drastic delay on all three of my Planet of the Apes reviews but I wanted to be sure and publish them in the order of Rise, Dawn, and War. Anyways, this week I'm reviewing Rise of the Planet of the Apes and revisiting Dawn of the Planet of the Apes to coincide with this weekend's release of War for the Planet of the Apes. Next week I'll be reviewing Inception as my Throwback Thursday Review and possibly doing a Triple-R over Interstellar to tie in with Nolan's new war film Dunkirk. Reviews you can expect to see for the remainder of the month include a Throwback Thursday Review of Shaun of the Dead in addition to reviews of new releases Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, The Emoji Movie, and Atomic Blonde.

'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Review

Nominated For: Best Visual Effects.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes follows Gen-Sys scientist Will Rodman as he develops a drug to cure his father's Alzheimer's disease and enhance brain cells. After a mishap with one of the exemplary ape test subjects "Bright Eyes," Rodman's program is put on the back-burner and all the apes are ordered to be put-down. However, a baby chimpanzee is discovered that inherited Bright Eyes' intelligence that is then given to Rodman. Rodman secretly continues his research, raising the competent chimp he's named Caesar in his own home. As Caesar's intellect increases, Caesar starts to question humanity's hierarchy and an ape insurrection begins. 

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is directed by Rupert Wyatt with a screenplay penned by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. Wyatt had a difficult task ahead of him considering he had to essentially reboot and revitalize a franchise that had previously only spiraled downward into obscurity. So rather than actually try and remake the 1968 sci-fi classic (akin to Tim Burton's effort in 2001), Wyatt and his screenwriters chose to take the riskier route and explain how the ape incursion began. Now genre fans aren't too fond of the term "prequel" since it's most often associated with the maligned Star Wars prequel trilogy but Wyatt succeeded in the vein George Lucas was unable to. 

Wyatt balances quiet character-driven scenes with simian spectacle appropriately so you wind up invested in an army of apes overtaking the Golden Gate Bridge. Where Lucas occasionally went adrift in trying to push the CG-envelope forward, Wyatt ensure the ground-breaking visual effects always elevate the material. Thanks to the talented vfx artists at Weta and marvelous motion-capture equipment, Wyatt is able to draw out powerful performances from Andy Serkis and his ape ensemble. The visual effects are a little spotty in some areas where the apes clearly resemble digital avatars but for the most part Ceasar and his band of primates authentically echo actual apes. 

The film may be titled Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but it more accurately represents Andy Serkis' ascension to becoming a household name in the business of acting via motion-capture. Serkis broke new ground in 2002 with his Middle Earth mo-cap portrayal of Gollum before gallivanting around as a twenty-five foot tall gorilla in King Kong (2005), but the character of Caesar may exhibit all the understated elements of Serkis' range via motion-capture. Serkis demonstrates all the characteristics of a chimpanzee but successfully layers an underlying brilliance and emotional resonance on top of the monkey mannerisms. Serkis and Caesar seem almost inseparable in these Planet of the Apes prequels but the ensemble behind him composed of Karin Konoval, Terry Notary, Richard Ridings, Christopher Gordon, Devyn Dalton, and Jay Caputo each offer an inspired take on various primates. 

One of the things I found myself questioning towards the film's finale was how that many apes managed to come from three locations. Once they escape, the ranks rapidly expand unrealistically. I understand Caesar freed apes from the primate facility, local zoo, and the Gen-Sys laboratory but the army seemed vastly over-exaggerated in comparison to the number of apes shown before the escape.

Oddly enough, the apes are so compellingly created though that they're a hair more humanistic than the actual human characters. James Franco serves the story sufficiently, allowing Will Rodman to be an emotional touchstone of the story while Freida Pinto is relegated to looking pretty on the fringes of the script. Pinto is confined to basically being no more than a love interest who also happens to be a veterinarian. John Lithgow on the other-hand brings forth a tragic take on Alzheimer's which is positioned as the dense emotional arc and Lithgow handles the material well. 

Meanwhile, you thought Tom Felton's Draco Malfoy was despicable? Well Felton proves he can drive the cruelty up a notch as a callous chimp handler and Brian Cox, Jamie Harris, Tyler Labine, and David Oyelowo fill the remaining ranks of the human cast worth mentioning. 

In summary, Rise of the Planet of the Apes holds up thanks to fantastic visual effects that both enhanced the sensational storytelling and exceptional acting on display. The script slouches a tad in its depiction of certain human characters and the visual effects is occasionally aged but Rise of the Planet of the Apes is still able to pound its chest proudly as one of the posh, premier prequels.

Film Assessment: B+

Throwback Thursday Review: 'Jack Reacher'

This week I'm reviewing Jack Reacher as my Throwback Thursday Review to tie in with the release of it's sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and next week I will resume my Harry Potter series with my thoughts on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to be followed up by Thor the subsequent week. Reviews you can expect in the meantime include Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and Keeping Up With the Joneses. At this point I haven't decided if I will be watching Inferno considering that I had no idea it was part of an existing franchise I haven't seen and therefore didn't fit in the earlier films into my Throwback Thursday schedule.

 'Jack Reacher' Review

Jack Reacher shadows ex-military investigator Jack Reacher as he must help solve a case involving five deaths or an innocent man may stand trial for murder he claims he didn't commit. Jack Reacher was based off the Lee Child's ninth novel in the book series One Shot and it certainly delivers in the action department as you can expect from a Tom Cruise-led action flick.

Jack Reacher marked the first of what became a regular team-up between writer-director Christopher McQuarrie and Cruise that thankfully has brought us Live. Die. Repeat. and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, two terrific action films. McQuarrie's execution, both in direction and his screenplay, is precise, to the point, and fairly well done across the board. McQuarrie cleverly keeps the story personal, ensuring to never raise the stakes too unbelievably high and still maintain an air of realism. I will say the twists were minimal, somewhat predictable, and the villain was one-note, but McQuarrie sure knows how to direct an action scene; including an insane car chase, some visceral hand-to hand combat scenes, and the occasional shoot-out.

The cast is composed of a number of name talent actors and while they do a fine job, they're serviceable at best. Tom Cruise is as charming as ever in the role of Reacher, pulling off the action man swagger only he can. Rosamund Pike fairs well as damsel-in distress lawyer Helen Rodin while David Oyelowo makes for the standard cop.

Jai Courtney plays an precise marksman and formidable physical presence opposite Cruise but has little development for his character whatsoever, and Werner Herzog is as creepy as it gets in his minimal screen time as "The Zec," and Robert Duvall's Cash is a welcome presence.

When it comes down to it, Jack Reacher is what we've come to expect from modern action thrillers and that's precisely it's problem. My biggest qualm with Jack Reacher is that it feels as though it's merely going through the motions, never standing apart from other franchises in the crowded action genre. It's not so much that Jack Reacher is bad, so much as that it's a generic action film. While the stakes and scope in Jack Reacher feel incredibly small, the action sequences are so well executed that it's worth watching at least once and makes for a passable action movie.

Film Assessment: B-

'Queen Of Katwe' Review

I had the opportunity to attend an early screening of Queen of Katwe this Wednesday, it will be released September 30th, and must say it makes a nice addition to Disney's growing number of sports dramas. Queen of Katwe tells the true story of Uganda's first chess champion, a young girl named Phiona Mutesi.

The film is directed by Mira Nair and she doesn't really contribute much of her own unique vision into the fold, but her editor certainly did. One of my issues with the film is that in the first act, many scenes are cut too short before the audience has been given a chance to respond to what they just saw, much like The Angry Birds Movie I maligned earlier this year. The film is very fast paced and strangely some of the supporting character's story arcs take precedent over Phiona's, leaving her arc to have less weight than deserved. Screenwriter William Wheeler only has so much to work with considering he's adapting a true story, ESPN article, and book but does a wonderful job interjecting humor into the proceedings through the young cast and whips up an inspiring message. 

Madina Nalwanga makes her acting debut as Phiona and does a fairly good job for a first time child actress, especially considering she's working opposite an Academy Award winner and Golden Globe nominee. The film features quite a few children actors portraying the village children, but the one who stood out to me was Ethan Nazario Lubega who played Benjamin, mustering up some hilarious comedic relief. 

Lupita Nyong'o and David Oyelowo are both fantastic in their respective mentor roles as Phiona's mother Nakku and Phiona's chess coach Robert. I also really must commend the casting director for finding black talent who so strongly resembled the actual characters, the end credits show the actors side by side the real people.

Queen of Katwe both succeeds and fails in striving to be a sports film. It has all the genre tropes that come with inspiring true stories about athletes and that's just it, in the long run Queen of Katwe is a tried and true "rags to riches" story we've come to know and are quite familiar with. Queen of Katwe is without a doubt an uplifting inspirational story with strong performances, grounded realism, and spouts of lighthearted humor but in the end comes across as a generic sports drama.

Film Assessment: C

'Selma' Review

Nominated for: Best Picture, and Best Original Song "Glory" (written by Common and John Legend).
Won: Best Original Song "Glory" (written by Common and John Legend).

I have now seen 7 of the 8 Best Picture nominees and I enjoyed Selma, which is not a Martin Luther King Jr. biopic but about the events that occurred in Selma, Alabama. I liked the depiction of the events and thought this film had a very strong ending that I won't spoil here. I do agree with everyone that thinks David Oyelowo was robbed of an Oscar nomination because he was great, I feel he did a fantastic job depicting Martin Luther King in the film. Also, Oprah has a very small role so don't go expecting a big part from her character. I think that he should have probably been nominated instead of Steve Carell because he gave a better performance. I also don't understand why Selma received a Best Picture nomination but not a Best Director nomination and vice versa for Foxcatcher. I thought Ava DuVernay made some great creative choices and I'm disappointed they weren't rewarded. I did like "Glory"which was written by Common and John Legend but felt the rap was unnecessary but I assume it was included because it is considered to make the song better by the general public. Overall, Selma is a great film and I recommend that you see it!