Nope (2022) Review

On Monday I decided to go back to the cinema to watch the new Jordan Peele directed horror film Nope and now I have got around to reviewing it so here it is. The premise of the film sees a small community in California come across a crazy discovery. 

Main Character

Daniel Kaluuya is reunited with the director who really gave him his big break and I really enjoyed his performance here. OJ is a bit stoic but has that quite charisma towards him that made him a character that I cared about, his character goes through quite a bit of development and Kaluuya brings plenty to the performance. 

Supporting Characters

Keke Palmer plays his sister and I thought she was good, at first I thought she was just really annoying but as the film goes on I liked her more and thought the dynamic between her and Kaluuya was well realised by both of them. The rest of the cast does there job well such as Brandon Perea, Michael Wincott and Steven Yeun, the issue is that none of their characters have any depth or interest about them. Yeun in particular is really underutilised and it is a shame considering how great an actor he is. 

Story 

The story is interesting in terms of not revealing everything at first and making you really pay attention to every frame. The main two characters are well realised and their chemistry is undeniable and makes them film much more enjoyable to watch. But this film has too much in it that doesn't really matter, the 2nd act in particular really drags the film down and made me a bit bored, the last act brings it up a bit but not enough. 

Script 

The script has some decent drama in it and it builds the intrigue of the whole plot well. It has some humour but I think this is one of those films that thinks its funnier then it actually is and there was never that dialogue that made me truly care about what was going on which is a shame. 

Style 

The film is shot beautifully, there is no doubt that plenty of love and craft was put towards the making of Nope as it looks great throughout. The main issue is in its pacing, its that middle section for me, it just derails the film and had me yawning, I am all for character development but it just felt misplaced here. 

Overall

Overall, Nope is an above average film that makes its audience really think and care. It just misses the spot quite a few times so I can't fully recommend it. If you are interested then it may be for you, otherwise I would skip it. 

Rating - 6/10

 Prey (2022) Review

Prey has been getting plenty of rave reviews and today I decided to sit down and watch the film and here is my review for it. The premise of the film is set in the same world as the Predator franchise and sees a young girl try and protect her tribe against The Predator. 

Main Character

Amber Midthunder plays Naru and she does a really great job, she represents her Comanche tribe and she is a really easy character to root for. She goes through a real journey throughout this film and when she eventually clashes against The Predator it is really entertaining to watch. 

Supporting Characters

It is really cool to see that there was an actual person playing The Predator and that it wasn't just CGI. Dane DiLiegro plays the role and this is a fantastic rendition of the character as by now we know The Predators motivation so just seeing him in action is brilliant and a great job is done here. The rest of The Comanche tribe do a really good job too despite their much smaller roles, the main one being Dakota Beavers as her brother who plays an effective role. 

Story 

The story is really good, I really like the time period that it is set in and seeing this low technology tribe having to compete with the really high tech Predator brings some great concepts. A true development of the main character too, this franchise has overcomplicated things in the past and this film keeps it simple. But my one issue is something that occurs in the last act and kind of comes out of nowhere, I won't go into details because of the spoiler nature of this thing. 

Script

There isn't actually that much dialogue in this film but I thought it was all well handled, with sprinklings of drama and humour. The film is well written and goes for the less is more approach which I really enjoyed. 

Style

The film doesn't hold back, there are some brutal action scenes and it is fantastic to watch without it feeling cheap and just horror movie tropes. The film clocks in at around 90 mins and the pacing is brilliant, films don't need to be that long and this film proves that for sure. 

Overall

Overall, Prey is a fantastic film that literally came out of nowhere. This is going to be a sleeper hit for this year and hopefully this signals a great new future for The Predator as a franchise. 

Rating - 9/10