Nope (2022) – 2/5

Nope indeed

„Nope“ is a relatively new 2022 movie and this got hyped quite a bit long before its release already because it is the newest work from Oscar-nominated director and producer and Oscar-winning writer Jordan Peele. This time of course without Key next to him. Peele is also a prolific actor, but here he left this area to the ones that play the characters of this story. The big name to mention is Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya, who had his huge breakthrough with the movie that was also the big breakthrough for Peele himself and I really enjoyed „Get Out“, so it also made me curious to see these two reunited here, even if I now must say the outcome is quite a disappointment. You can see that from my rating, but I will get to the details and explanations a little later. In-between the film I just mentioned and this one here, Peele worked on another film called „Us“, a decent film as well, but inferior to „Get Out“, yet superior to this one here, so Peele really went south quality-wise with every film he made, but this one here is at times so low that it is hard to imagine for me that his next project could be another step down in quality. First he focused on really human threats linked to racism (of course, but at least very creatively), next he focused on doppelgänger danger and there he also brought in supernatural elements and enemies and here he takes it to the next level as an alien invasion is about to happen. So this was definitely not an easy idea to turn into effect and, even more difficult, quality. I would not say he failed completely and I was even eager to give this film 3 stars out of 5 for the most part before the final sequence really made it obvious for me that I must give a negative recommendation here. No clue why critics loved it so much. The female protagonist is played by Keke Palmer here. She portrays the male protagonist’s sister and the longer the film goes, the more it becomes her film. Unfortunately not in a good way. More on that later on. She was an Emmy winner in a category that does not get too much attention, but her performance here did not make me curious at all about her future.

It is really a mix of variety in here: Two Blacks in the lead and the perhaps biggest supporting character is played by Branden Perea. Don’t worry if you have never heard of the actor’s name. Neither have I. I must say he was okay with what he was given. Then there is Michael Wincott, an actor who is quite prolific, but also most will not identify him immediately, let alone remember his name. This film will not change anything about that. He plays an established filmmaker who initially rejects the main characters when they approach him, but finally becomes a vital part of the story. Or well, actually he almost always stays a nothing character who was supposed to be vital, but it is not working out. I don’t blame the actor though, just how his character was written. Then there is Steven Yeun, so it is not only an Asian actor on board, but one of the best Asian actors out there right now and what they (or Peele) did with him was just a bad joke. He was completely wasted. The scene when he stands there far away from the the trio and screams something was very telling. He just isn’t part of the action. You could almost say that the child actor that plays his character had more to work with in this bizarre monkey/ape killing sequence than Yeun does. What a disappointment! No idea why he would accept such a nothing role, maybe only because of Peele shooting the movie. Finally, Keith David, another fella with several Emmy wins, is on board here as well, but only featured prominently at the beginning. Not too much to say about him. He has solid screen presence, but that is it. Plays the father of the two leads, but vanishes as quickly as tragically. Then again, it was not difficult for him to shine here if you look at the fact that he shared the screen with Kaluuya in all his scenes because the latter was literally sleepwalking his way through the movie from beginning to end and he is in almost every scene, but he seems so lackluster. Now I am not a fan of Kaluuya in general, but I think he is a much better actor nonetheless than what you get to see here. I am not sure if it was his approach or how Peele wanted him to be, but it was an utterly forgettable performance.

Maybe the reason was also that they wanted Palmer to shine so much and her character was the opposite of Kaluuya’s really. Just take the scene when she comes in for the photo shoot and presentation there of the animal trainer company. It all comes easy for her and the opposite is the case for her brother. How she talks to people, how she wins them over etc. Of course, she also has a dozen other talents and jobs, that’s how versatile she is. But don’t mistake Kaluuya’s turn for a quietly convincing performance or something. This is not the case either. It is just bizarre how forgettable his character is with all the screen time he has. Now does that automatically make Palmer’s character memorable? Absolutely not. Or if so, then for all the wrong reasons. I think she was supposed to be likable, supposed to be seen as a strong female character, but for me the opposite was the case and she did not feel realistic. Actually, she felt fairly obnoxious with her screaming out certain stuff like when she elaborates on the director’s camera model, when she references Oprah on several occasions, when she verbally declares war against the creature and so on. Also when she talks to Perea’s character on several occasions, she seemed the opposite of likable to me. But he happily takes it from such a great and self-confident woman like her, so we accept it too and don’t see it as something bad, rather as something positive with how headstrong she is? Oh well, I am not sold there at all. The fact that she is the opposite of her brother, who is even sleepwalking through the movie when riding a wild horse, does not make her a convincing character. Then, there were also other issues apart from the specific characters that I was not to big on. I found it an interesting idea how this film referenced crucial film history with the Black man riding a horse in the 19th century and how it is the first film in existence, but looking at how poor this movie here turned out to be, I wish they never would have mentioned this old short film or Muybridge as well. They deserve better and should not be a part of this chaos.

Then there were several crucial question marks linked to the alien invasion and escalation. Of course, we have the stupid White man on his motorbike who of course gets killed. That was so stereotypical. I already mentioned the final sequence then when the woman at the center of the story basically defeats the evil creature on her own because of how smart and also in good shape she is. Not surprising really with how Hollywood wants to give it all to female characters/actors these days, but it was a mess. The two guys were just there resting somewhere until Palmer’s character had finished her divine act. Of course, the moment she basically got the creature to implode in the most laughable manner possible, tons of people arrive out of nowhere and see what she achieved. Of course, let’s not talk about the absence of police and even the military from this film for the most part. Makes total sense of course because these two would have thought the main characters are crazy with their idea that there is an alien out there. But now, as I get closer to the end of my review, let me also talk about a few things I found alright, not that there was really a lot. The best aspect maybe for me was the cloud idea. The footage of how all the clouds were moving except the one that contains (or even is) the creature was quite nice. The aforementioned ape/monkey sequence was fine too with how shocking it was. The idea of how the horse is scared early on at the film shoot because it saw its reflection was a good inclusion too, even if that felt clumsy at the same time in showing us how Kaluuya’s character is really a professional and these stupid White men surrounding him there, agents etc. Are just incompetent fools and he is much smarter than they think he is and also than they are. Obviously.

What is, on the other hand, among the worst moments from the film again was how the male protagonist remembered something from his early scene and it helped him in fighting the creature and that was linked to (not) looking it in the eye. Aside from that, the early O. J. joke was quite something. No surprise here that Peele also had to get in some racism, even if I must admit I found the lady’s reaction and question kinda funny, but hey let’s perceive it as the blatant racism it was meant to be. What else? I am generally a western lover and even if this film here is not from the old days of movies or set back several centuries in the past, you can call it a western to some extent with the way where it is set, how many horses show up here and what the main character’s profession is. So I do not hesitate to say it is one of the worse western movies I have seen, maybe worst if we focus on modern genre movies. As I stated earlier, it was mostly the „spectacular“ ending with Palmer’s character that ruins it and how she is still ready to say something like how nobody should mess with her name or so when she realizes she won. All on her own. As a consequence, I give this relatively long 130-minute movie a thumbs-down and suggest you skip the watch. Even if you liked Peele’s previous two releases, this is not one for you. I kinda believe now that he just got lucky somehow with „Get Out“, but does not have it quality-wise to stay a reliable filmmaker for years to come, even if he is really not that old. Slightly over 40 now. If we are honest, then it was mostly Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o’s lead performance that kept a shoddy script together in „Us“. With this one here, the flaws cannot be ignored anymore.