Nope is well-acted and brilliantly shot, but the writing is all over the place
Brief Film Analysis, Annotated Online Movie Reviews, Expert Critical Insight
Overview
A Signs clone that slightly improves on the original. Gotta love a film that references its very own apocryphal Saturday Night Live sketch (though SNL would never poke fun at an incident wherein people died as a result; I mean, they never did any Challenger Blows Up skits, did they?), and casts the diabolical Michael Wincott as an artiste cinematographer who’s not above doing commercials. However, I would have dropped the whole Killer Chimp thing; the filmmakers devote it to much time when they should be looking for ways to trim down the two-hour-plus running time, and the CGI/motion capture monkey is an eyesore. The CGI alien “ship” doesn’t fare much better, and the movie’s explanation for it is either genius or really fucking dumb (my money’s on the latter). All things considered, Nope is well-acted and brilliantly shot, but the writing is all over the place.
“Yuen seems to be off-kilter and the movie’s weak link, but the more I thought about his plotline, the more his performance made sense. I think he’s the film’s biggest breadcrumb in terms of figuring it all out.”
I don’t know about “biggest” but definitely the longest. and whether his performance makes sense or not matters little because his plotline feels more alien than the actual being from outer space or whatever the hell it is.
“One abandoned storyline involves a former sitcom star … who runs a neighbouring Wild West theme park and has an intense, violent backstory. But don’t expect a narrative reason behind that backstory… because there isn’t one.”
See? That’s what I’m talking about. That the window is stained-glass doesn’t make any less window dressing.
“Simply put, Jupe and his narrative could be removed from Nope, and what happens with the protagonists throughout the various acts would still occur with minor, insignificant changes. However, this removal would leave the film stripped of its central theme, leaving it with a much poorer context.”
Not necessarily. Just take the tertiary character, conflate it with the hero and voila!, you’re good to go. Or, in lieu of that, you could just make the tertiary character a greedy bastard and let that be the entirety of his backstory.
“Another point that contrasts with the audiovisual spectacularity of the entire film is the UFO design during the third act … It’s not a CGI issue but rather a somewhat… questionable, confusing design choice.”
The design sure is questionable and confusing, but it is too a CGI issue as well (CGI is always an issue).
“Jordan Peele’s Nope has no shortage of terrifying visuals. There are bolting horses, air-filled skydancers swaying uncontrollably and an amusement park that brings to mind the freak-show carnivals of yore [uh, no it doesn’t].”
Man, if you think a skydancer is a “terrifying visual,” then I guess Gumby must fill you with dread.
“But perhaps nothing can beat the moment when a pet chimpanzee, having run amok during a television show and attacked the human participants, turns towards the camera and looks right at us.”
Maybe if it were an actual chimpanzee. Maybe.
“The extended climax is a visual tour de force. The battle between a malevolent force in the sky and doughty humans on the ground is a tribute to the singular power of cinema to imagine the unknown.”
Not so much when the “malevolent force in the sky” is little more than a humongous digital ink blot.
“The UFO-like creature is very particular about what it likes. Its stomach has no space for plastic, steel, papers and more such waste. All it desires is flesh and blood.”
And, apparently, bones (for some reason, it doesn’t spit them out like the plastic and steel).
“The scene that creeped me out the most is when the UFO-like creature takes its full form during the climax. It looked like those creepy figures I see in my nightmares sometimes.”
Did Ralph Wiggum write this review by any chance?
“ … the sound design for the antagonist in this film is haunting. It makes the hairs stand up on the back of your arms … ”
In other words, it’s so scary it’s like a combination of getting goosebumps in your arms and having the hair on the back your neck stand up.
“The design of the antagonist strikes a powerful mix between an alluring and beautiful making it feel more like a Lovecraftian monster, further adding to the horror of it all.”
I’m reminded of 2020’s Underwater, which did a much better job rendering a monster that was a lot more than just casually Lovecraftian.
“In Nope, one of the most enduring images is OJ atop a horse. Peele reminds us that the first man ever photographed was, in fact, a Black man on a horse.”
This is a perfect example of the redundant overkill that drags Nope down. Either remind us directly that the first person ever photographed was a black man on a horse, or have OJ atop a horse be one of the film’s most enduring images. Either reference, or allusion. Either show, or tell. But you can’t, or at least you shouldn’t have it both ways.
“ … this movie presents a unique twist that surprises the audience in unpredictable yet cohesive ways, giving out an experience that immerses us into the world and plot of the film. It does this via a mixing of genres like sci-fi and horror, creating a movie of mixed genres …”
Someone is certainly mixed-up here, that’s for sure. Piss-poor composition aside, this is the first review I’ve encountered that mentions Travis the Chimp. I must admit I’d been sort of doubting the authenticity of the killer chimpanzee episode (apart from the computer-generated monkey, that is), but this sets me right — so, you know, kudos on the research.
“… the effects team spared no effort on this movie.” More like spent no effort, considering the lackluster CGI on display. “[The plot is] so creative that I’m not sure how Peele comes up with this stuff.”
Short of calling Peele unoriginal, the sheer quantity (and quality, too) of the sources he has raided for Nope should provide at the very least an inkling of just how he comes up with this stuff.
“The movie goes to places you never thought it would go.”
As well as one place you’d hope it wouldn’t go; i.e., nowhere.
“I’ll begin by saying walk into this movie without reading anything about it.”
Which presumably includes the very same review we’re reading right now. So should we go watch the movie and then come back to finish the review? By then, though, we’ll already know if Nope was “worth checking out,” won’t we? What’s more, we will have checked it out regardless of whether it was worth it or not.
“Palmer and Kaluuya both have two widely different characters to play while simultaneously playing brother and sister.”
Isn’t their being siblings kind of literally written into their characters? After all, it’s not like they’re double agents in a spy flick.
I won’t quote from this article. I’ll just say that it’s arguably the best Nope review I’ve read so far. Almost 100% spot-on. If you’re reading this, then go and read that.
“‘Nope’ … A Cautionary Tale About Going Viral.”
So cautionary indeed that no one in it ever actually does go viral.
“As OJ repeatedly remarks, the UFO doesn’t move like a saucer.”
What’s never explained, though, is how the fuck could he possibly know what an actual flying saucer, assuming they exist, moves or doesn’t move like? He’s never seen one before (nor after); why is he so sure that’s not how they move?
“Nope is … a palimpsest of nostalgic blockbusters and Peele’s deservedly self-assured vision of Hollywood’s future.”
Palimpsest? I do not think that word means what you think it means.
