The marketing team behind the Cloverfield franchise has been on a roll within the last few years. The unexpected release of Paramount’s 10 Cloverfield Lane in 2016 sparked the discussion of the continuation from 2008’s Summer surprise, Cloverfield. Which surprised audiences around the globe with it’s sensational trailer that debuted with Michael Bay’s first Transformers film. The found footage film garnered a huge cult following over the following years, and 10 Cloverfield Lane (eight years later) began what looks to be the “Cloverfield Expanded Universe”. The Cloverfield Paradox’s trailer debuted during the early quarter of Super Bowl 52 between the Patriots and Eagles. There were heavy rumors leading up to the big game that a trailer would finally debut for the project, but also that Netflix was looking to buy out the franchise from Paramount’s catalogue. To the world’s surpise, not only did we get a trailer for the film, but news that it would release less than three hours later on the Netflix streaming service. So, after all the buzz, excitement, hype, and surprises how is The Cloverfield Paradox? It’s okay at best. The issue with The Cloverfield Paradox is that it lacks direction and a well structured script. The trailer promised us that it would answer the original film’s question of, ”Where did these aliens come from?” The answer is delivered quickly (and as promised), but from then on it mindlessly meanders throughout the Helios ship and it’s crew being thrust into terrifying scenarios. The cinematography, mystery, and horror that unleashes throughout it’s 100 minute runtime does enough to keep you hooked, but the fisherman never gets you above water. There’s a subplot in the film that has zero reason to exist, sure it may have showcased a father connecting with a child once more, but the final shot of the film alone would have simplified everything we saw before. Plus it would have opened up gateways to explore the characters on the Helios ship more than what we got. It’s an aimless project that ends up giving us useful information pertaining to the Cloverfield universe, but it doesn’t really feel worth it. It felt like Paramount knew they had a project on their hands that would lose them money, so they made a move that would make them money back for what they would have lost if they released it in theaters. If there is anything positive to say about Cloverfield Paradox, it’s that Bear McCreary’s scoring of the film is fairly effective for the high stakes scenarios. The body horror is intense and may have the weakest of stomachs needing to make a run to the nearest restroom. Gugu Mbatha-Raw and David Oyelowo deliver rockstar performances as they usually do and make their scenes worthwhile. Other than the cheap entertainment value that may arise throughout, Cloverfield Paradox fails to make a stamp like the previous two entries did. It expands on the lore of the universe a bit and opens up a whole other realm of possibilities to come in the future, but as of right now, The Cloverfield Paradox is a ginormous misstep for the Cloverfield franchise. The Cloverfield Paradox gets a 48/100