A POLITE REVIEW: NOPE
There are spoilers in this review. If you haven’t seen NOPE do not read this review.
I know what you’re thinking. The answer is no, I did not sneak a burrito into the movie theater and to be quite honest, I’m disappointed in myself. The movie employees were even shocked I didn’t bring at least a chicken plate in the building. They must think I’m pussy so I'm sneaking in a whole watermelon next time.
I don’t even fuck with watermelon but my reputation on the line. I’m ready to be Omarion.
Anyway I saw NOPE by Jordan Peele and bought a quesadilla. Let’s talk about it.
Jordan Peele right now is the most trusted filmmaker in the business right now. If you see it’s his work you’re making time to go see it. There are people (myself included) who don’t have to see a trailer of a Jordan Peele film and we will still go see it. The public trusts Jordan Peele that much and he’s earned it.
Get Out is masterful. Us, amazing. So how did NOPE do?
Jordan Peele is 3 for 3 ladies and gentlemen. This film was everything.
Let’s talk about the characters and then what I loved about the film.
The casting of this film was great. Daniel Kaluuya as OJ was very stoic and reserved. He was basically that nonchalant nigga that women hate cause he never responds to their bullshit. A very tough nigga to rattle. Keke Palmer as Emerald was very vibrant, outgoing, and ambitious. Keke Palmer was basically playing herself. She didn’t even need a script. It wouldn’t shock me if Jordan Peele just told Keke “Aye do you shorty.” The brother and sister dynamic between Keke and Daniel was perfect. They hit a home run with their performance.
Steven Yeun as Jupe was kind of unhinged and awkward. You could tell he was mentally off. It felt like he sniffs glue and listens to Joyner Lucas during his free time. Brandon Perea played Angel who was a Fry electronics employee who basically is a walking bong rip. Type of character that clearly eats taco bell 4 days a week and scrolls through reddit 12 hours per day minimum.
All of these characters have good chemistry with each other.
What stood out to me the most about this film is how beautifully this film was shot. This is Jordan Peele’s best shot film by a landslide. The shots of the night scenes were fucking gorgeous like a black woman thighs under the moonlight. The shots during the day were just on another level and the angles of some of the shots in the movie were simple and placed very well.
Next is my favorite thing about Jordan Peele’s films. Themes. Let’s talk about themes and other cool things about this film.
Where in the fuck do I begin?
SPECTACLE
The first thing we see is the scripture
“I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.” - Nahum 3:6
The animals in NOPE are treated with contempt. The Chimp Gordy who was exploited for a tv show, the horses Jupe sacrificed to the UFO, OJ’s horse Lucky. Every name of the animal that was shown in the movie was an animal treated with contempt and made a spectacle.
When we see spectacles we cannot take our eyes off of it. The UFO would eat anything that looked at it as if it was a spectacle.
When Jupe saw Gordy beat people to death on set there was a reason why Gordy did not harm him and instead gave Jupe a fist bump. It’s possible that Jupe was not looking at Gordy but instead looking at the shoe that was standing upright. He was not looking at Gordy like a spectacle and his life was spared but did Jupe learn from this? No.
Jupe then believes he could tame the UFO and turns the UFO into a spectacle by profiting off it by showing his customers the UFO eating the horses he feeds to it. He attempted to treat the UFO with contempt and the UFO killed everyone at Jupe’s show.
Em wants to get a shot of the alien and the way she talks about it is her and the family profiting off the spectacle. She doesn’t care about the people and animals the alien has killed. She’s thinking about profit and being famous.
The TMZ reporter lived for the spectacle even when in danger all he cared about was the spectacle. He put the spectacle before his own life.
All I took from this is mind your fucking business. Just keep it pushing.
DEATH
NOPE is a documentary of death and how people deal with death. When OJ loses his father he tried his best to put his best foot forward and live but you sensed the feeling that OJ was lost. He didn’t know how to process his father’s death. Em dealt with her father’s death through resentment. Jupe saw death up close and personal and when trying to explain the most traumatic moment of his life to OJ and Em he tried his best to make light of it by attempting to explain a Saturday Night Live skit that reenacted the most traumatic experience of his life. Antlers Host has no issue facing death for the impossible shot
It’s not just how people deal with death, it's also about how people view tragedy in general. Jupe explaining the Saturday Night Live skit is some of the saddest shit because people really died and they made humor out of that tragedy. They made fun of those victims' demise. Jupe himself tried to make money off of his tragedy. Em and OJ wanted to make money off tragedy.
FILM CREW
A lot of this film is an ode to film crews and how little they’re respected or how they’re not recognized for their importance to film. So when we see OJ wearing his “Scorpion King” crew hoodie as he’s being a hero in the film, I assume Jordan Peele is recognizing how much he respects film crews and their importance. They’re the real heroes.
JEAN JACKET
This is my favorite theme of the film. Em resented her brother and father because she was promised to train her own horse named Jean Jacket and instead Jean Jacket was given to OJ to train. OJ names the alien predator in the sky Jean Jacket. Jupe couldn’t tame Jean Jacket. He thought since he could somewhat befriend and tame Gordy the chimp he thought he was special and could tame the alien predator Jean Jacket. He thought wrong cause Jean Jacket slurped that boy up like some good gawk gawk 3000. OJ made a gesture to Em in the final act of the movie that he made to her in a flashback when they were kids and he did so while listening to his fathers instructions about training the horse Jean Jacket. When OJ made the gesture in the final act he was letting Em know that this alien predator Jean Jacket is yours. Tame it. Here’s your moment. Em tamed Jean Jacket in the end and got the impossible shot. Dope moment.
OJ…. DEAD OR ALIVE?
OJ used himself and Lucky as bait to help Em. When Em kills the alien OJ is seen on Lucky being completely still. I think OJ is dead because he’s standing directly under the “Out Yonder” sign. I immediately thought about church folks and that song “Going up yonder” meaning that boy OJ meeting Jesus. It makes sense from a storytelling aspect that OJ died because it starts the journey of Em’s independence. Em struggled with being independent and relied heavily on OJ and their father. Seeing Em tame the alien and that action being the start of her independence really feels gangsta to me. I like that.
Here are my criticisms.
I didn’t really care for the Gordy story. Yes it fits the theme but if you removed that arc from the film you wouldn’t really miss much. Now the scene itself was terrifying and very fucking tense. A chimp just walking around and beating people to death is insane. It was an intense scene. I loved the violence of that scene but was the scene truly necessary? Debatable.
The alien didn’t have ANY background which annoyed me cause I’m an info dump kinda guy. I need to know what the fuck that thing is. We had to go off what OJ thought it was. We don’t know if that’s the truth though. You know what the monster is in Get Out and US in some capacity. All we know in NOPE is that this is a predator shaped like a UFO and can turn into bed sheets. It was like an octopus or something.
I can understand why a lot of people were confused in my theater. I had to catch myself before I started judging people and saying dumb shit like “Only intelligent people can understand NOPE” that sounds like something a J.Cole fan would say. It’s all about how you watch films. I love nuance, themes, cinematography, pacing, I’m a film junkie. Some people don’t care about that type of shit and it’s boring to a lot of people. Some people are “get straight to the point” watchers. A lot of people were expecting a super intense climax like Peele’s two previous films. Nope wasn’t as intense as those 2 films but it was still a good ending.
This is the most ambitious and smartest film Jordan Peele has made so far. My favorite movie director by far.
I give NOPE 4/5 fruit snacks
Love, Benny
https://www.instagram.com/bennygreenheart/
