Jordan Peele has had quite the career and I respect the hell out of him. Some of modern comedy's best skits are in Key and Peele. Get Out was fantastic, and Us was even better. I even tolerated The Twilight Zone. NOPE is an appropriate title for this one.
I will preface this by saying I generally do not enjoy alien movies, and I went into this completely blind.
The plot in two sentences: The Haywoods family, the oldest African-American-owned horse ranch, had a few mysterious deaths and spot a UFO. [Insert a bunch of other stories here]. They try to capture the UFO on camera and chaos ensues.
The cinematography and camera work is fantastic from the start. It has a horror sci-fi western feel and the actors play their roles and interact very well. They help set the tone of tension throughout the film. The plot quickly becomes disjointed when trying to interweave incongruous storylines that never get wrapped up. Stories include, but are not limited to: a lone surviving child star, a chimpanzee that snapped, a western theme park, and a couple of cowboys desperate for money.
Even with analyzing the themes and symbolism written into it, NOPE doesn't hit the mark for me.
There is a twist in this movie, which leads people to compare this to both Signs and M. Night himself. This twist during the climax was, well, anticlimactic.
The film relies heavily on suspense and symbolism that will go over the majority of peoples' heads. NOPE is a slow burn with a convoluted and seemingly pretentious premise.
Takeaway: BE NICE TO ANIMALS.
Rating:
Cinematography: 9/10
Chimp massacre: 8/10
Run time: 2/10
The climax: 2/10
Jellyfish: 2/10
Overall rating: 4/10
Where can you watch?
Peacock, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+
As of this post:
IMDB Rating: 6.9
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 82%
Cinematography: 9/10
Chimp massacre: 8/10
Run time: 2/10
The climax: 2/10
Jellyfish: 2/10
Overall rating: 4/10
Where can you watch?
Peacock, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+
As of this post:
IMDB Rating: 6.9
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 82%
