Scientists test a dangerous device that could provide unlimited power only to unleash something terrifying that leave them face to face with a dark alternate reality.
The true paradox of this movie is that those enjoyably wild twists alone would've made this film a whole lot of fun to watch with a big multiplex audience, even as inconsistent and ultimately illogical it turns out to be.
It feints at a parable for paranoia in an age of weaponized information. Instead, it's a reminder that what we love can be quickly ripped from us. After all, who knew when they woke up Sunday that the Cloverfield franchise would be dead hours later?
Once your plot literally establishes that anything can happen for no reason because alternate dimensions, there's no compelling need for script logic any more.
Not containing the wit to be smart, thrilling sci-fi nor the chutzpah to embrace a fun, B-movie shlock vibe, it unfortunately feels like an uninspired TV pilot that any other network would've permanently locked in a vault.
While this doesn't breathe new life into the genre, or even the series itself, the blueprint was certainly there to have constructed a much better model.
