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YeinJee's Asian blog

Asian Culture, Lifestyle and Entertainment

Disaster movies (tag)

Archives of disaster movies. Natural hazards, earthquakes, destruction, monsters, scifi, pandemics, doomsday, and other disaster films. Trailers, news and reviews.

The Cloverfield Paradox movie review

February 13, 2018 by Yein Jee

Check out the trailer and my review for American scifi horror film The Cloverfield Paradox. The story follows a group of astronauts who try to solve the global energy crisis, but accidentally open portals to parallel universes which unleash all kind of weird stuff in their space station and bring doom to earth.

In true Netflix fashion, the movie is available on the online streaming service soon after they released the trailer last week. Directed by Julius Onah, and stars Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Aksel Hennie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O’Dowd, John Ortiz, David Oyelowo and Zhang Ziyi.

Like its previous instalment – the 10 Cloverfield Lane in 2016 – the Paradox is just a loose addition to the Cloverfield franchise. The story doesn’t focus on the main event from 2008 but connects in some ways. This new movie (the third instalment) is a bit more relevant than the second though.

The release came as a surprise regardless. Paramount was expected to release this in cinemas like the two previous Cloverfield films, but seems like they think that it would be more profitable to sell the rights to Netflix instead. And they probably made the right choice considering the bad reviews.

What’s wrong with Cloverfield Paradox

It’s a confusing movie if people try to understand the logic. Humans don’t have actual knowledge about parallel universe, we are not even sure if it actually exists. Science fiction films can do whatever they want in that setting because there’s no right or wrong with something we don’t know.

There are other shortcomings in the movie though. To begin with, it’s practical and easier to build wind turbines, solar panels and stuff – or spam nuclear plants if we are desperate – to solve energy problems instead of trying to harness “limitless” power like what they are doing.

There are also some technical errors but most people won’t notice that. The bigger problem is the lack of continuity in the plot instead. They simply put in all the weird events without connecting the dots. It’s not scientifically wrong but it’s a poor way to make a movie. It’s like a child’s doodle.

Zhang Ziyi in The Cloverfield Paradox movie

Another issue is the unnecessary use of Chinese language. I like Zhang Ziyi and I’m always happy to see an Asian face in a Hollywood production. But I find it stupid to have those characters speaking Chinese in an English language film simply for the sake of pleasing a certain market…

It’s especially ridiculous in Paradox because everyone else speaks English in the space station. To make it funnier the whole crew seems to understand Chinese perfectly. I can offer explanation for that e.g. an auto translator (it’s the future after all), but it’s just marketing gimmick to be frank.

It’s not all bad though

Despite the flaws, I still think it’s an average film. The cast is fine, visual effects are decent, and there are entertaining moments too. Can’t say it’s good overall but it’s not terrible. I think many of the reviews and ratings are harsh, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Regardless, the fact that Paramount dumped this probably means we won’t be seeing another Cloverfield film soon. Unless Netflix or others decide to pick up the franchise instead, which is doubtful because of the Paradox flop. It’s difficult to quantify but Netflix must have lost millions of dollars on this.

Update June 2018 – Didn’t see this coming. Producer JJ Abrams confirmed that there will be a fourth movie. And this time it will be a real sequel for the original 2008 film. No further details though.

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: American movies, American showbiz, Disaster movies, Horror movies, JJ Abrams, John Ortiz, Netflix Network, Paramount Pictures, Scifi movies, Zhang Ziyi

Shin Godzilla Japanese movie trailer

May 13, 2016 by Yein Jee

Teaser for Japanese movie Shin Godzilla (シン・ゴジラ), in theatres in Japan this summer. The film is co-directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi. It’s the 31st instalment in the Godzilla franchise and the third reboot by Toho Pictures.

The Shin is a play of words which can mean a few things. Officially it’s RESURGENCE in English title, some Asian teasers go with TRUE, social media seems to like it as GOD, while I prefer the simpler NEW instead. It all seems to fit though.

[Read more…] about Shin Godzilla Japanese movie trailer

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: Akira Emoto, Asian movies, Asian pop culture, Asian videos, Disaster movies, Godzilla Franchise, Hiroki Hasegawa, Japan blog, Japanese movies, Japanese pop culture, Japanese showbiz, Jun Kunimura, Kimiko Yo, Mansai Nomura, Monster movies, Shinji Higuchi, Toho Pictures, Yutaka Takenouchi

Independence Day: Resurgence movie trailer

December 20, 2015 by Yein Jee

Official trailer for Hollywood movie Independence Day: Resurgence (ID:R). The scifi action disaster film is a sequel to Independence Day, which was the highest-grossing film worldwide in 1996.

Directed by Roland Emmerich (director of the original film), ID:R stars an ensemble cast of Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Maika Monroe, Jessie Usher, Travis Tope, William Fichtner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Judd Hirsch, Brent Spiner, and Sela Ward. In theatres June 2016 in the United States.

[Read more…] about Independence Day: Resurgence movie trailer

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: 20th Century, American movies, American showbiz, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Disaster movies, Jeff Goldblum, Scifi movies, United States

San Andreas movie trailer

May 16, 2015 by Yein Jee

Official trailer for San Andreas, an upcoming American disaster movie. Directed by Brad Peyton, the film stars Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Ioan Gruffudd, Archie Panjabi, Hugo Johnstone-Burt, Art Parkinson, and Paul Giamatti. In theatres May 29 in the United States.

The San Andreas Fault [wiki] is a continental transform fault that extends roughly 1,200 kilometres through California. It’s a real thing, and scientists have long predicted that a huge (8.0+ magnitude) earthquake will occur in the next few decades somewhere along the fault.

The movie sets on a major earthquake caused by the San Andreas Fault that devastates Los Angeles and San Francisco. And the story focuses on a rescue helicopter pilot who tries to save his estranged wife and beautiful daughter while totally ignoring his civic duty during the crisis.

Update & verdict

I watched the movie many months later on TV. The plot is cheesy, and sometimes ridiculous, like in most other disaster films. The special effects are great though; some scenes are over the top, which again is a common thing in this genre; but it’s believable enough to see it as something probable in real life.

The tsunami scene reminded me so much of the Japanese disaster in 2011, it made me felt a bit guilty that I actually enjoyed the film. It’s easier said than done but I hope people are more ready for natural disasters these days. As the cliché goes, it’s not whether it will happen, it’s simply about when.

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: American movies, American showbiz, Archie Panjabi, Carla Gugino, Disaster movies, Dwayne Johnson, New Line Cinema, RatPac Dune, San Francisco, United States, Village Roadshow, Warner Bros

Godzilla (1954) Japanese movie trailer

March 21, 2014 by Yein Jee

Black and white trailer for the first Godzilla movie in 1954. It’s the beginning of a Japanese pop culture icon which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

Got to say the special effects are pretty amazing for a film from that era…

[Read more…] about Godzilla (1954) Japanese movie trailer

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: Asian movies, Asian videos, Disaster movies, Godzilla Franchise, Japanese movies, Japanese pop culture, Japanese showbiz, Monster movies

Godzilla (2014) movie trailer

March 4, 2014 by Yein Jee

Official main teaser for Hollywood film Godzilla, the third American production (1956, 1998) based on the Japanese Godzilla franchise. In theatres May 2014.

The movie is directed by British filmmaker Gareth Edwards. It stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, and Bryan Cranston.

It’s not obvious in the trailer but there’s another monster (or two) in the plot. The Godzilla is probably the good fella here like in some of the Japanese instalments. It’s just doing its own thing though, it’s like showing who’s the real boss instead of being a hero or trying to save the world.

[Read more…] about Godzilla (2014) movie trailer

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: Aaron Johnson, American movies, American showbiz, Asian pop culture, David Callaham, Disaster movies, Elizabeth Olsen, Godzilla Franchise, Japanese pop culture, Juliette Binoche, Legendary Pictures, Monster movies, Monsterverse, RatPac Dune, United States, Warner Bros

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Yein Jee is a Malaysian traveller, food lover & self proclaimed entrepreneur. This blog is about Asian culture, lifestyle, travel, food, fun and entertainment ... Read More...

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