Jordan Peele is brilliant!
I saw the trailer for this back in June and was immediately drawn in by it. Although the last movie, Us, was too confusing to be great, both it and the epic Get Out established Jordan Peele as a master of his craft. He is really good at telling weird horror stories.
Alright, enough tribute. Let's dive right in.
The movie has a simple plot. Otis Junior OJ and his sister Emerald Haywood investigate the weirdness transpiring around their horse ranch, which began with the death of their father six months before. That's basically the best I can do without giving spoilers.
It's a movie that starts with creepy vibes, a hint of sci-fi thrown in, sprinkled with a bit of horror, and ends with a bang of pulse-racing excitement. The movie has a runtime of about 2 hours and kicks into gear right at the beginning.
Although the momentum slows down for a bit, it picks up after a bit and continues to gain right until the end, so the 2 hours pass quickly. This is important for any movie that runs more than an hour and a half. Nope does this quite well, although there is some lull with some scenes, Jordan keeps the tension tight- in summary, a good beginning, a decent middle, and a superb finish.
Jordan Peele always pays tribute to the Black American culture in his movies with leading black characters and a lot of symbolism. He uses this symbolism most heavily in 'Us' which made it difficult for me to enjoy.
In Nope, his typical signature hardly clouds the plot, and you only notice it unless you look hard for it. In my opinion, this was a great decision on his part as it made the movie more enjoyable.
That's about it!
Are you looking for a movie, unlike the run-of-the-mill stuff Hollywood spews out these days? Would I recommend this? Nope. (YES!!) It's engaging and contains the right amount of scary; scary enough to give you that adrenaline rush but not scary enough to give you nightmares.
Do me a favor as you watch this: keep a tally of the number of times the word 'Nope' is said. If you've already seen the movie, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section.
