One of the big problems with Paradox is that 85 percent of the film is explanation, leaving very little time for character development.

There are humanist bits and chunks of "Interstellar" and "Arrival," though in order to set up another chapter of this loosely assembled saga of woe, "The Cloverfield Paradox" eventually, dutifully gets around to a nonhuman adversary in close-up.

Its twists feel routine, its narrative spine limp and its conclusion especially rushed.

A surprise premiere but a surprisingly bad premise