The Cloverfield Paradox became Netflix’s first big public experiment this past weekend when it seemingly dropped out of nowhere. The once titled, ‘God Particle’ also know as the third installment of the Cloverfield franchise was announced during the Super Bowl that it would be available to stream immediately after the game. Forget the lengthy trailers, the mystifying posters or the talk show interviews amping up the excitement. Playing my part of this experiment, I frequently kept checking Netflix that evening until the film was up and running. Now, if you are a Cloverfield newcomer, maybe this would be a fun entry point. However, I still think you should check out the previous entries, THE Cloverfield (2008) & 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), before jumping into the paradox. And, while I’m not going to review this film in a traditional sense, I am going to try and answer some of the movie’s questions with answers and possibly, even more questions.
Earth disappeared, but no one among the astronauts decides to use any of the instruments to figure out where they are?
The instrument they need is in the belly of one of the crew members. its not as simple as just looking up and finding the north star like on land/sea.
So Jensen’s station blew up, but she somehow transitioned, alive, to an alt-Earth station on the opposite side of the sun?
The Higgs Boson overload caused two instances of things to exist in the same space, this causes chaos. one ship exploded, one did not, crew members from both ships resulted in strange issues such as…
Both the gyro and the worms end up in Volkov’s stomach, intact?
Objects from ship A end up in crew member from ship A.
Volkov has an eyeball problem and a conversation with himself, which apparently was inconsequential?
Crew member from ship A ends up having a conversation with himself, but actually hes existing in the same space at the same time as crew member from ship B he is talking to his Doppelganger mentally (the Doppelganger is controlling his eye.) We see evidence of this again being the case later in the movie when Mundy loses an arm, we later see the arm crawling around, eventually requesting a pen, and then writing out that they need to cut open Volkov. This implies that the crew from ship B are stuck in some weird semi dimensional state, possibly including as possessing the ship, again chaos.
Hamilton wanted to go to alt-Earth just so she could warn herself about something that clearly didn’t happen there in the first place?
She also wanted to see her kids again.
It sure was easy for Jensen to get that gun when she needed it. That safe was less secure than my desk drawer.
Why do they even have the plans to print a gun?
The accelerator ripped open space time, but apparently that only happens the first time you turn it on. And the second. After that = stable?
Space time ripped open because of the power overload, the second overload untangled, the charge used the info they gathered while entangled to result in a non overloaded run, they clearly talk about this during the movie.
You want to really have fun?
A successful Shepard firing turns into a bright white light, and the crew references stations down on Earth that will harness the beams from it to generate power.
We also saw that firing Shepard can result in a massive residual magnetic field, and an unstable beam can result in those around it being flung through space and time.
Sound familiar?
What if I described an Island that sat atop a mysterious source of energy symbolized by a bright white “light.” But if it became unstable it produced a powerful magnetic force and could erupt violently and cause the island and everyone around it to become unstuck in space and time?
Yeah, that’s right. I’m suggesting the Shepard energy station was based on the Dharma Initiatives research into the energy source deep within the Island from ‘LOST’ (At least, in one universe).
And about that timeline, I pulled this image from a “Cloververse” subreddit:
I love the idea that specific moments in the past, present, and even the future, were merged with other dimensions. This would explain why Overlord (the next film in the universe) takes place in the past.
There may be proof in the films themselves of a specific year, but as far as I know it is the assumption that, like many other “present day” movies, the film happens in whatever year it was released unless otherwise specified. There is confirmation from a related ARG website that the Shepherd launched in 2028 (so the Paradox event happens 2 years later in 2030), and that the upcoming “Overlord” film happens during WW2 (so the 40s.)
Oh, and keep in mind that each timeline/dimension’s Earth was impacted in a different way. So even if the invasions happened in the same year (which they don’t), they would still all look different for each version of Earth. Crazy stuff.
Look, The Cloverfield Paradox is no Oscar contender, but it is a surprise addition to a service I already pay for. I was delighted by the whole thing. I loved the way they rolled it out (it was just such a Cloverfield thing to do) and it’s pretty much review proof anyway, given that it ended up on Netflix. I mean, it cost me zero, I didn’t have to wait to see it, and I didn’t have to deal with a movie theater for something I likely would have paid to go see.
Sidenote- What the hell was going on with the fooseball table? That scene made me laugh harder than the Ouija board that bursts into flames in the first Paranormal Activity.
-Dagobot
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