Nope

I surmise that the idea for "Nope" came out of a clever idea for a sketch. Imagine a film where the main character says "Nope" to terrifying, unexplainable phenomena instead of rushing forward like a courageous, but dumb movie hero.

Except, bucking that trope only takes a movie so far. And that's the point where the movie "Nope" starts to unravel, when it can't adequately explain why the protagonists are sticking around.

Somewhere between halfway and three fourths of the movie, the dialogue just becomes far too cryptic to make sense of. And that's the point where the actions the protagonists are taking really needs to be clear, as it's the climax of the film.

I wished the director Jordan Peele, one half of the successful Key and Peele comedy duo, would try his hand at the horror/comedy movie genre. I believe this is his third and latest film, and the second one that most fits in that genre.

To his credit, some sequences have great cinematography, tension, and horror. And some moments are really funny. One particular sequence is both terrifying and hilarious, and best encapsulates the title "Nope," as a main character goes head to head with a massive, intimidating force and just closes his car door, and says "nope."

But overall, the horror and comedy sides do not feel totally woven together. It's like at some point budget was lost and some sequences just couldn't get follow through. And the characters had to be stretched to make up for missing plot points, or fill the moments with comedy. The writers and actors and visual effects teams are good enough so they manage it. But there is a sense of "what did I just watch" at the ending, which wasn't there with Peele's two other more finished films.

Whatever the back story is that has given "Nope" its rough landing, I still found the film enjoyable. Sometimes experimental. Mostly unpretentious and original good fun. But also, what did I just watch?

I hope we are not about to see the Shyamalan effect with Jordan Peele, where the debut film is amazing and everything that follows leaves you scratching your head. I feel like I'm on that road with Peele's body of silver screen work. "Get Out" was a masterpiece, while "Us" jus didn't do it for me and now "Nope!"

Keke Palmer did her thing in the role she played (she is the star of this movie for sure) and Daniel kept up with a good performance in his own right, but the film itself was something outta the Twilight Zone. More of a sci-fi thriller than a horror flick, it had too many holes and unanswered questions for my liking. Peele's approach to filmmaking is amazing, much like Shyamalan, but the stories, like Shyamalan's are starting to fall short of being good films.

Jordan may have dreamt this story and woke up at 5am and jotted down every detail he could remember. And like our weird dreams, they never make any sense and we forget a lot of the details by the time we wake up! Nope was like one of those weird a... dreams!

6.7/10

While "Nope" is a visual spectacle I found that it didn't sit as well as I would've hoped when it came to the story. However, it still manages to reach its goal of entertaining on some level.

The film felt slightly long due to the first and third acts feeling fast and somewhat stuffed with a lot of goings ons while the second act felt very slow and drawn out. The long parts put me into a state of boredom, and even further than that, once the reveal of the antagonist happened, the magic and tension disappeared. Before that tension disappeared I found there was some good tension built up due to the soundtrack, but again, things fell short.

As for the horror parts, I assumed there would be more than just the ones shown in the commercial, and while there was, again a lot of the horror/magic disappeared once the antagonist was shown.

I did find the acting to be very engaging. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer each brought great energy to their roles, and the supporting actors were equally enjoyable.

Overall, a decent film, but if I could go back I would wait to see it on a cheap night. Acting was enjoyable, the cinematography was spectacular, but the story, the length of the film, and the antagonist weren't up to the par I was expecting.

Thank you for reading my review. Until next time.... Enjoy the show!

The amount of reviews calling this pointless and terrible clearly didn't read much into what happens here. Peele is pointing a mirror up to you and the most ironic part is a lot of don't even seem to notice. No, this isn't a typical horror movie. It's more of a Spielbergian blockbuster satire with some amusing moments sprinkled throughout. The "entity" is creative and can be quite terrifying. The cinematography is top notch and probably the standout feature of the film, while Kaluuya can say an immense amount without even speaking a word. The screenplay is odd to say the least, but it hits more than it misses.

While I still think this is a lesser film than Get Out or Us and it ran a little too long, you have to commend its originality in a summer sea of IP-based films. Peele attempts something profound and unique here, which should be respected regardless of your thoughts on the film.

The credits have just rolled, and despite running for two hours, it's felt as if it's been on for about four hours.

I can't remember the last time I was so conflicted about a film, the good elements were great, the bad elements were painful, I'll try to be as concise as I can.

I'll start with the great elements, first off, production values are terrific, this is one gorgeously produced film, it looks terrific.

The second aspect that stood out, the acting, Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer were terrific, and I really enjoyed Brandon Perea's performance too.

The storyline itself was a good one, if nothing highly original, I liked that whole monkey scenario, and the way it developed was very satisfying, the sci fi fan in me appreciated several of the key elements, I loved not knowing exactly what was behind that cloud, that aspect worked well.

Unfortunately, it lacked scares, listed as a horror, this was anything but, I wanted thrills and spills, this was more a casual prod. Pacing was definitely an issue, it was just way too slow in parts. Many scenes simply didn't make any sense.

It reminded me of The Cloverfield Paradox, definitely some interesting elements, but too slow and just felt too cobbled together.

Not bad, but it should have been so much better.

5/10.