Nope review

NOPE: 

JORDAN PEELE REINVENTS THE ALIEN INVASION GENRE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

An unidentified flying object is terrorizing a horse ranch in Nope

 

            A mysterious UFO terrorizes a Hollywood horse ranch in Nope, the new film from director, Jordan Peele (Key & Peele, Get Out, Us) following in the footsteps of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Signs, and War of the Worlds. I’ve been a huge fan of Peele’s work as a director with Get Out being among one of the best films I saw in 2017 and Uswas a fascinating and downright unsettling experience I had in a theater. 

            I was pumped for this movie when it was announced, an alien invasion movie from the insane mind that gave us brain transplants as a bizarre form of immortality and creepy doppelgangers obsessed with rabbits and scissors, you bet your ass I’m gonna see it. So, how does Nope stand compared to Peele’s other directing efforts and even works as a producer like BlacKkKlansman and last year’s Candyman? It’s easily Peele’s weakest film, but I was thoroughly invested from start to finish. 

            The film follows OJ (Daniel Kaluuya-Get Out, Black Panther, Judas and the Black Messiah) and Emerald Haywood (Keke Palmer-Akeelah and the Bee, Hustlers, Lightyear), the brother and sister owners of a horse ranch in Hollywood that trains and cares for horses used in movies and television. When their ranch is mysteriously attacked by an unidentified flying object, OJ, Emerald, former child actor turned carnival owner, Ricky “Jupe” Park (Steven Yeun-The Walking Dead, Okja, Minari), and a Fry’s Electronics tech salesman named Angel Torres (Brandon Perea-The OA, Doom Patrol) become obsessed with trying to capture video footage of the UFO sightings, but there’s a catch…you can’t look up at it. 

            The film also stars Michael Wincott (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Crow, Alien: Resurrection) as Antlers Holst, Wrenn Schmidt (I Saw the Light, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, For All Mankind) as Amber Park, Keith David (The Thing (1982), Platoon, The Princess and the Frog) as Otis Haywood Sr., Donna Mills (Nip/Tuck, General Hospital, Joy) as Bonnie Clayton, Barbie Ferreira (Euphoria) as Nessie, Eddie Jemison (Ocean’s trilogy, The Punisher (2004), iZombie) as Buster, Oz Perkins (Psycho II, Legally Blonde, Secretary) as Fynn Bachman, Terry Notary (Avatar, Planet of the Apes franchise, Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame) as Gordy the Chimpanzee, Andrew Patrick Ralston (Lethal Weapon (TV series), The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Life in Pieces) as Tom Rogan, and Jennifer Lafleur (Billions, Married, Workaholics) as Phyllis Mayberry. 

            Overall, Nope somewhat pales in comparison to Jordan Peele’s previous directing efforts, but it gets a pass for originality and ambition by reinventing the alien invasion genre with almost Spielberg-like results…as well as being a love letter to film. From nods to various Spielberg classics like Close Encounters and E.T. to various easter eggs in the background and references to film and filmmaking, the production design that looks very retro, and a sequence where a cinematographer character uses an IMAX film camera to capture the footage of the UFO (In fact, this movie was also released in IMAX). 

            This movie reminded me a lot of the 2011 J.J. Abrams movie, Super 8 which was basically an homage to Steven Spielberg films and much like this film, revolved around aliens and filmmaking (In this film’s case, capturing footage of the UFO). You can tell Jordan Peele has a lot of love for these types of films and that he’s able to take familiar elements and make something new and one of a kind out of them. 

            Keep in mind, this is NOT a horror film despite the marketing making it seem like one, it’s a sci-fi thriller that does have its creepy and suspenseful moments, but they aren’t as prevalent compared to Peele’s other films. It’s the kind of film that starts off slow and eases the audience into its world and the ideas being explored, but by the end you’re exhilarated. 

            The film has this brilliant concept where you can’t look at the UFO and if you or a large crowd of people looks up at it then it attacks. I have to say, when you see the UFO, it’s pretty damn intimidating especially if you’re watching the movie on the big screen. 

            The characters are extremely likable, especially the brother and sister, OJ and Emerald, Daniel Kaluuya as the quiet and more restrained brother while Keke Palmer is the loud and eccentric sister with a ton of energy and sass to her character. Practically polar opposites of one another and bone of them have excellent chemistry together whenever they’re onscreen. 

            While the film doesn’t quite have as much comedy compared to something like Get Out, Jordan Peele once again does a solid job at blending humor and scares. Most of the comedy revolves around a character literally saying the title of the movie right before something bad happens, you would think something like this would get old really fast, but every time got a good laugh out of me and it’s a legit reaction to seeing a UFO about to beam you up, you just say “Nope!”. 

            For the most part, I really enjoyed this movie but there are some problems with it, particularly the narrative. When the film focuses on the characters and the UFO at the horse ranch, it’s great but the film felt the need to squeeze in sub-plots that either go nowhere or never come back into play in the final act. 

            Basically, there’s two stories going on, the first is the brother and sister at the ranch with the UFO and the second is this plot revolving around a former child star who was on a sitcom and this terrible thing happened onset that traumatized him. The event is constantly flashed back to throughout the film, but it never impacts the main story…then again that sequence gave me both one of the most terrifying scenes and one of the funniest scenes in the movie so I guess I can’t fault it for that. 

            Nope doesn’t quite reach the same level of quality as Get Out or Us, but if you’re looking for a unique take on the alien invasion genre with compelling characters, interesting ideas, and a good mix of comedy and suspense, say “Yep” to this movie.