Jordan Peele’s “Us” is currently sitting at a 94 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but is it worth the hype?
“Us” is the second film written and directed by Jordan Peele following his Oscar-winning 2017 film “Get Out.” Peele is most known for his comedy sketch show “Key and Peele” co-starring Keegan-Michael Key, which lasted five seasons on Comedy Central. Peele doesn’t stray too far from his comedy roots in this “horror” film and injects a very healthy dose of lightheartedness into this dark piece.
Without giving too much away, “Us” centers around a family on vacation played by Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex. While they are at their beach vacation house they are attacked by another family that looks almost identical to them, hence the name “Us.” The movie follows the family as their doppelgangers try to kill them and essentially take their place.
“Us” is a very fun time at the theaters. Jordan Peele is a master of using humor in his horror films and giving them a light tone just when needed. This is no small feat as many horror movies try to do this and fall flat. I never felt like the comedy was overbearing in this film and it never took away from the suspense Peele creates.
This movie is considered a “horror” film by many. I do not agree with this placement. “Us” feels much more like a suspense film just as “Get Out” did. Sure, there are some horror aspects to this movie, but it relies heavily on the suspense like its predecessor.
“Us” is incredibly well acted as it should be with its star-studded cast. Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke have great chemistry as they have worked together on “Black Panther” and did theater at Yale University together. Peele shows off his writing chops as the characters had a lot of depth and were extremely well written.
Now, some of the bad stuff. I saw the ending coming from a mile away. Within the first fifteen minutes of the movie I predicted what was going to happen, as I feel a lot of people were able to do. The ending was still good and entertaining, but I feel this took away from the movie a great deal. With the movie ending this way comes a lot of plot holes that leaves you to think if this script was entirely thought out. There are too many areas where you can question the validity of what could or couldn’t happen.
This is an entertaining film and undoubtedly I had a fun time watching it, but I believe people are watching this with blind eyes. They see that is written, directed and produced by Jordan Peele who has now solidified himself as a big-time director. They see the star-studded cast including two “Black Panther” co-stars and they immediately want to like this film. You would be hard pressed to find a bigger Jordan Peele fan than me, but I see this movie for what it is, an above par film that seemed rushed due to the monstrous success of “Get Out”.
Overall, this movie was still very good and entertaining, but I don’t believe it deserves the extreme critical acclaim it is receiving. If you haven’t seen it, I would definitely recommend going to the theaters with a friend and checking out. Even if you’re not a fan of horror, the comedy in it will make it worthwhile.