Movie Review: NOPE; a unique take on an alien movie
One thing Jordan Peele will not do is miss! If you want a movie that explains every single little thing, you will be disappointed. Nope is full of unique and original ideas which certainly paid off.
Divided into five chapters: "Ghost", "Clover", "Gordy", "Lucky", and "Jean Jacket”, Peele’s Get Out leading man Daniel Kaluuya plays OJ (“as in Otis Jr.”) Haywood, a rancher attempting to shepherd his family’s Hollywood legacy as horse wranglers into a new era when his father, Otis Sr. (Keith David), unexpectedly dies. Despite recruiting his self-promoting sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) as a mouthpiece to keep their business going, the Haywoods soon face the prospect of selling their ranch to their neighbor Ricky “Jupe” Park, a former child actor who already acquired several of their horses for his Western reenactment village. But when OJ confesses that he saw some kind of alien object in the sky, Emerald becomes determined to capture it on film—whatever it is—in order to earn enough money to save the ranch and burnish their fortunes.
Purchasing a truckload of surveillance equipment at a local electronics store, OJ and Emerald recruit their salesperson, Angel (Brandon Perea), to install it around the ranch. But after Angel learns of their plans, he joins their ragtag team of supposed UFO-hunting documentarians—only for the three of them to make a discovery that confirms their suspicions, but also wildly exceeds their expectations, and threatens their very lives in the process.
Nope does have its flights of entertainment. The first half is genuinely a fun ride with plenty of gags, as Peele slowly pulls comedy and horror from the same well. The frustration with this alien-invasion story doesn’t reside in the script not providing easy answers. Instead, the
bafflement and unanswered questions are assets.
Nope is an idea more than a story. The editing, framing, and sound design were all in the top of notches. It was a unique take on an alien movie.
Nope is a movie made by a man who LOVES movies you will enjoy.