Despite his original background in comedy, dual hits with 2017’s Get Out and 2019’s Us made Jordan Peele one of the era’s most prominent horror directors. Peele returns with another genre effort via 2022’s Nope.

Otis Haywood Sr. (Keith David) operates a successful business that supplies horses for TV and movie productions. After he dies, his son OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and daughter Emerald (Keke Palmer) take over the company, though they struggle to stay afloat without their dad’s guidance.

Matters take a surprising turn when OJ thinks he witnessed an alien lifeform. This sends him on a journey to document his close encounter, one with potentially terrifying ramifications.

As I noted at the start, Peele’s first two movies allowed the director a small but strong horror filmography. Inevitably this set up expectations for his third film.

Unfortunately, Nope fails to live up to those hopes, though it does come with some positives. With $68 million at his disposal, Peele enjoyed by far his largest budget to date – albeit small by Hollywood Blockbuster Standards – and he uses the money to create arguably his most ambitious effort.

Get Out offered a small psychological tale. Us became a little bigger-scale but it still concentrated on characters above spectacle.

Via Nope, Peele offers his shot at a big epic of sorts. With a small cast and fairly limited sets, Peele doesn’t shoot for the moon, but the tale of marauding aliens allows for a much larger template than his two prior flicks.

While all of this allows for Peele to paint on a bigger canvas, it doesn’t make the end result more satisfying. Much of the problem comes from the manner in which Peele tells his tale, as Nope often feels like lead-up in pursuit of a payoff.

It also comes across as a movie where Peele invests too much in various forms of Deeper Meaning. As a result, he fails to see the forest for the proverbial trees.

To be sure, Nope comes with all sorts of subtext and room for interpretation. If one wants to delve into the film’s social commentary and related elements, Nope comes with fertile ground.

Unfortunately, it feels like Peele obsesses so heavily over all these notions that he neglects too many of the basics like compelling characters and an intriguing story. In a way, Peele’s approach reminds me of Guillermo del Toro’s MO, as del Toro gets so hung up on details and introspection that he too often forgets the “basics”.

Del Toro tends to concentrate too much on production design, whereas as noted, Peele digs into “deeper meaning” too heavily. Either way, both filmmakers obsess over the small aspects of their movies and neglect the bigger picture too much of the time.

At its heart, Nope essentially exists as a combination of 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 2002’s Signs. That sounds like a potent mix.

Unfortunately, Peele gets so hung up on the social commentary that he never crafts an exciting or engaging tale. He tosses out lots of “meaning” but little of it sticks.

Indeed, more than a few of these moments seem awfully clumsy. For instance, we see a severely injured man who suffers even more because he cares about nothing other than recording incidents and potential fame.

Zinging society’s current obsession with a perpetually online life feels like low-hanging fruit. Peele brings little one could call especially insightful to the tale.

It doesn’t help that Nope moves at an awfully slow pace. It meanders across its plot and never quite gets where it wants to go.

This means we await a payoff that fails to arrive. We get occasional glimmers of promise but the end result doesn’t ever connect.

Like JJ Abrams’ Super 8, Nope feels like Peele’s homage to various movies. Unfortunately, it never coalesces into its own film, so it remains a lackluster final product.

Footnote: a cute tag shows up after the end credits. It’s not an added scene but it amuses nonetheless.

Nope appears in an aspect ratio of 2.20:1 on this Blu-ray Disc – mainly, as it also used 1.78:1 occasionally to represent IMAX shots from the theatrical run. Whatever the case, the movie boasted a pleasing image.

Overall sharpness worked well. Some darker shots veered a smidgen toward the soft side, but they remained in the minority during this largely accurate presentation.

I saw no shimmering or jaggies, and edge haloes remained absent. Print flaws also failed to become an issue.

Like most modern movies, Nope went a lot of orange and teal, as those tones dominated the presentation. They stayed on the subdued side, at least, and the Blu-ray rendered them in an appropriate manner.

Blacks looked dark and deep, while shadows seemed smooth and concise. I felt happy with this high-quality presentation.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack added involvement to the proceedings. The channels used music in an involving manner, and various effects also broadened the soundscape in a winning way.

While not a film packed with action, Nope came to life enough to work the speakers well. Various elements related to the aliens moved around the room in a convincing pattern to contribute life to the tale.

Audio quality worked well. Speech seemed concise and distinctive, while effects appeared accurate and natural. Louder moments boasted fine punch.

Music was warm and full, with a good level of punch from percussive elements. All of this left us with a satisfactory “B+” soundtrack.

As we shift to extras, five Deleted Scenes fill a total of nine minutes, 25 seconds. These offer minor tidbits but nothing memorable.

A Gag Reel runs five minutes, 29 seconds and provides a typical array of goofs and silliness. Don’t expect much out of the ordinary, though some improv lines amuse.

Called Shadows, a documentary spans 56 minutes, five seconds. It brings notes from writer/director Jordan Peele, producer Ian Cooper, director of photography Hoyte Van Hoytema, 2nd assistant A camera Emily Amos, co-producer David Torres, video playback supervisor Steve Irwin, production designer Ruth De Jong, 1st AD Liz Tan, B camera operator Kristen Correll, special effects coordinator Scott R. Fisher, gaffer Adam Chambers, aerial camera operator Ryan Hosking, Mark stunt coordinator Vanselow, and actors Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Terry Notary, Brandon Perea, and Michael Wincott.

“Shadows” covers story, characters and themes, Peele’s approach to the material, photography, cast and performances, sets and locations, audio, stunts and action. “Shadows” takes on a good array of subjects and does so in an engaging and informative manner.

Call Him Jean Jacket lasts 14 minutes, 22 seconds and involves Peele, Cooper, Torres, visual effects supervisor Guillaume Rocheron, editor Nicholas Monsour, scientific consultants Dr. John O. Dabiri anmd Kelsi Rutledge, sound designer Johnnie Burn, and composer Michael Abels.

“Jean” examines the design and execution of the movie’s alien entity. Expect a solid view of the subject.

Finally, Mystery Man of Muybridge occupies five minutes, 30 seconds with remarks from Peele, Cooper, Abels, and Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Director and Professor Marta Braun.

Here we get some notes about the early moving picture footage discussed in Nope and its use. We receive a worthwhile overview.

With his third non-comedic directorial effort, Jordan Peele shoots for his most ambitious project yet via Nope. Unfortunately, the end result feels spotty and rarely lives up to its potential. The Blu-ray comes with very good picture and audio as well as a fairly appealing set of supplements. Though not a bad flick, Nope doesn’t quite connect on a consistent basis. a