The Cloverfield Paradox

"The Cloverfield Paradox" (2018, Julius Onah, Paramount Pictures, Bad Robot Productions, Netflix) is a loose sequel in the Cloverfield franchise.

Paradox is a good enough sci-fi romp hindered by trying to force it into the confines of a sequel. Most of the action takes place in space following a crew trying to find a solution to Earth's increasing energy crisis. We follow protagonist and space station engineer, Ava (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). In all, the other crew mate characters are mostly thin in characterisation, with the exception of the charismatic Mundy (Chris O'Dowd) who seems to be able to steal scenes in almost everything he's in anyway.

There's some fairly decent space horror scenes which reflect genre greats including Alien and Event Horizon and a nice amount of jumpy bits as well as some humour.

However, the film suffers from some jolting scene jumps with the story bouncing from Earth to the space station and some of the Cloverfield nods and mentions felt a bit tacked on as if they were intended for a separate movie.

I didn't hate it as much as some, but I felt like it was given somewhat of a disservice and would have benefited as a standalone film.

[Image: Paramount Pictures, et al]

Hani

Prometheus

"Prometheus" (2012, Ridley Scott, Twentieth Century Fox, Scott Free, Brandywine) is the almost-a-prequel to the "Alien" movies. It explores the creatures' origins and the 'history' of the events leading 'up' to the classic film we all know and love.

Whilst the film was certainly not required for the franchise, and, in my view, added very little to it, it is damned gory and has lots of fun gadgets and effects to enjoy.

Some wonderfully simple and deadly creatures plague our crew as they attempt to answer that all important question, "Why are we here?".

With some deservedly fun and grotesque death scenes, considering our cast's sheer disregard for any kind of protocol, rest assured that you will be treated to a cacophony of blood, guts and gloop, but really I'd probably be more likely to stick on "Alien" and "Aliens" if I want to see any murderous space creatures.

Not exactly the most cerebral of films, but definitely worth a look.

[Image: Twentieth Century Fox]

Hani

Critters 4

"Critters 4" (1992, Rupert Harvey, New Line Cinema) is the final movie in the "Critters" franchise and is based in space (as where else would you end a franchise about aliens?!)

Our hero Charlie (Don Keith Opper) has awoken from hypersleep in the capsule where he was meant to leave the Critter eggs at the end of "Critters 3", to find himself in deep space in the year 2045 on a "Firefly"-esque ship, crewed by a bunch of thieves, salvagers, raggamuffins and space drug addicts who have unwittingly brought him and the menaces aboard thinking the pod to be valuable.

The whole set-up is very familiar if you've seen "Firefly" or "Serenity". The country and western-ish background music is also very reminiscent of the show and movie. I can't help but wonder if Mr. Whedon is a "Critters" fan!

Even the crew includes a balshy, but dick-headed (definitely not a Cap'n Mal character) captain aptly named Rick (with a silent 'p', I think!) played by Anders Hove.

You also have your tough chick, female crew member, Fran (Angela Bassett), young keen teenager Ethan (Paul Whitthorne), super geek Al Bert (Brad Dourif) and drug addict tough guy, Bernie (Eric DaRe).

The crew have called the pod in to the Terracorp Council to try and receive a reward, and have boarded the space station head quarters to find them deserted and run by a worn down and malfunctioning supercomputer named Angela (voiced by Martine Beswick). Angela will only carry out orders if told not to (the crew don't have access, see, so if they say not to do something, she clearly has access to do that.... logical!?!).

It's all very interesting taking the last surviving Critters back into space. The crew aren't well developed characters, but are surprisingly rounded for B-movie horror characters. The setting is very dated, but carries well with the plot and the kills are gorey and fun like they should be.

Ug (Terrence Mann) returns after having been promoted to the place of Counselor Tetra. He seems to have changed with this promotion and become quite devious. One might think he orchestrated poor Charlie's misfortune in leaving Earth!

This film follows directly after the Third movie, and feels as such.

The Critters are lesser in number, but the film takes the story in a slightly different angle (without losing the charming gore-soaked-hand-puppets angle that we know and love).

Like most sequels closer to five than one, it's just not got the same feel to it that 1 and 2 did. But on the whole, is a nice roundoff to a fun, low budget series of killer porcupines. And the characters are on the whole, a lot less stupid than the ones seen in Grover's Bend and in the tenement building! Although, I suppose they are space men...

Definitely a must see if you've seen the previous films!

If you've seen "Android" you may also recognise at least one clip in this flick, too!

[Picture: New Line Cinema]

Baby Critters just don't inspire the same 'aww' factor that most creatures do!

Hani

Pandorum

"Pandorum" (2009, C. Alvart, Constantin Films) is a sci-fi horror.

 

Corporal Bower (Ben Foster) awakes from hypersleep aboard the 'Elysium' space-people-carrier to find that he has no idea what's going on. The ship is carrying thousands of humans from disaster-stricken Earth to a new inhabitable planet. 

 

This scene is very well captured: his skin is disgusting! Not green or sores or anything, just loose and peeling and yuck! It really puts you off hypersleep. Also, this hypersleep isn't the simple man-walks-into-pod-and-falls-asleep business, no, it's a lot more medical than that! His body is riddled with wires and tubes and other general paraphernalia. You really feel for him having to remove it all and wake up. He discovers that he is not the only person awake, Lieutenant Payton (Dennis Quaid) has also awoken and he too is suffering some amnesia.

 

The control room for the ship is blocked off and the power is surging on and off. This is clearly what has caused the two men to awake. Bower heads off to find a way out, and Payton (on radio to Bower) describes a mental condition known as 'Pandorum' which is like space-cabin-fever.

 

Bower comes across some corpses, some humanoid monsters which attack him and also a few other humans who also attack him. Finally he bands together a small group of humans and they attempt to head for the reactor of the ship to stabilise the power, and also slowly unravel the chilling events that have lead to their current predicament.

 

Throughout the film we noted that it appears that whenever the 'hunters' or monsters are around, the power comes to life. It seems as if the monsters have become a part of the ship as well as having adapted to it.

 

There are some good tense scenes and the film keeps the viewer in suspense, giving very little plot away. I enjoy this type of storytelling, as it feels like I am discovering the facts for myself, rather than being told them by a narrator or character monologue.

 

Quite a few twists take place at the end of the film. One twist I felt was very obvious, as I saw it coming from quite early on, but this does not ruin the story.

 

"Pandorum" is a good space-thrill ride with some creatively gorey scenes and a good base plot. The monsters are reminiscent of those seen in 2005's "The Descent", and the end, although open-ended for sequels, gives a nice rounded feeling of completeness. It is very dark though, meaning that any ambient light in the room will ruin the view. So don't watch alone if you're scared of horror in the dark!

 

 (Picture: Constantin Films)