Nope

Für einen Zuschauer, der Peeles Filmemacher-Talent sowie seine Drehbuchlimits kennt, ist Nope genau so ein Quatsch, wie es der Trailer angekündigt hat. Der Regisseur ist in der Lage, praktisch jede Szene fesselnd zu drehen. Wenn aber in den Szenen hundert Minuten nur etwas angedeutet wird und wenn manche von ihnen für die dünne Geschichte keine sinnvolle Bedeutung haben (der Asiat und der Schimpanse), ist es nur eine Pose und man wird an der Nase herumgeführt. Peeles ungewöhnliche Kombination der Genre-Motive (hier ein Science-Fiction-Horrorfilm und ein Western) kann mutig und originell wirken. In einem Film, der einerseits grauenhaft sein möchte, andererseits an der Grenze zu einer Parodie balanciert, geht die Vision der Autoren verloren. Nope befindet sich – was die Gelungenheit betrifft – zwischen Get Out, der auf einer genialen Idee basiert, und Wir, der ein lächerlicher Unsinn war. (28.08.2022)

Nach dem übertrieben selbstgefälligen Wir, in dem Sozialkritik und Metaphern die Funktionsweise des Films als Ganzes überrollten, kehrt Jordan Peele mit Nope zu einer einfachen Idee zurück, die in ein funktionales Genre-Schauspiel eingebettet ist, wie es bei Get Out der Fall war. Und es hat genau den zauberhaften Spielberg-Bezauberungseffekt über das Übernatürliche, Elemente einer gut abgemessenen Komödie, gruselige Horrormomente und vor allem Abenteuer. Solch episch abenteuerlicher Film, der einem das Gefühl vermittelt, dieses exklusive Abenteuer gemeinsam mit den Charakteren zu erleben, gab es schon lange nicht mehr. Für mich ein Daumen nach oben! Ist Jordan Peele das Filmgenie und der Horrorzauberer, von dem uns besonders die amerikanischen Medien und Kritiker überzeugen wollen? Überhaupt nicht. Aber er ist ein interessanter und talentierter Filmemacher, dessen Werke es definitiv wert sind, verfolgt zu werden. (10.09.2022)

For two thirds the film is a compelling, engrossing and carefully constructed horror-thriller mystery that kept me engaged as the characters struggled to get to the bottom of the mystery. This part of Nope, which I was very pleased with, culminated in a magnificent night scene with "blood rain" that made me glow with bliss and consider awarding five star to a horror flick for the first time in a long time. But, as you can see, I didn’t go further than three. Because the film then turns into an action charade, where you don't care about the characters and just try to catch the design of the weird contraption and figure out if you like it or not. And what shocked me above all is that it doesn't actually come to anything. After his previous two films, you'd expect Jordan Peele to be ... smarter than that? Us may have been logically leaky, but I found its social references were very stimulating (and that goes twofold  for Get Out). There's nothing like that in Nope, or I don't see it there at first. Many people, often dismissively, refer to Peele as the king of "elevated horror", but this is, in the end, more or less an ordinary genre film. In the space of half an hour, the film shoots two or three banal ideas (what people are willing to risk for fame and success / the fascination with tragedy / the stupid notion that man can tame everything), which it then repeats to the point of foolishness, but doesn't take them anywhere. I don't want to sound overly critical, Nope is definitely nice to look at, it has a number of impressive scenes and it's certainly a good film to see in the cinema, but after the excellent first two acts I can't help feeling disappointed at the end. (17.08.2022)

Jordan Peele has once again proven that he's an intriguing director, just like he did with Get Out. In Nope, he delves into themes that no one else has touched, blending a unique black perspective with mysticism, aliens, and a Western vibe. Sounds like a mess? Just watch Nope. It might seem crazy, and it is, but it's an atmospherically genius kind of crazy, with stunning cinematography. I haven't been so captivated by shots of clouds in a long time. The film is filled with more WTF moments than you can imagine, and its ending is fantastic — though it does dip into a Hollywood vibe just when you think it's entirely anti-Hollywood. For those moments and the riveting conclusion, this movie truly deserves your attention. I haven't watched TV with such interest and curiosity in a long time. (24.05.2024)

Siblings OJ and Emerald are struggling with a failing farm, their own relationship, and now with something hiding in the clouds, and as it soon turns out, it's pretty damn dangerous. Only how do you expose this thing, which is good at hiding and doesn't like to let witnesses in, to the world? And how to survive it? Jordan Peele delivers a science fiction film that doesn't quite work in the first half, and he as a director doesn't quite manage to build the tension as well as he might have liked. But he makes up for it all with the final act, when the humans and the mysterious something from the clouds have a fair fight. The closer we get to the end, the smarter and more entertaining Nope gets. And it looks really beautiful. But Peele still can't do real fear and terror. (17.08.2022)