Us is the second theatrical movie to be directed by Jordan Peele, and I have to admit, he produced, wrote, and directed a great movie – once again. Overall, the movie gets a solid A from me despite a LOAD of missteps in the screenplay that I’ll identify later. The crowd loved the movie and that’s what counts. The high school kids next to me, which happened to be a group of 17-year-old boys, were so scared, they were screaming and hugging each other. That’s the litmus test right there. If you can get young men to act like scared little girls in a horror flick, you’ve done a good job.
I wouldn’t recommend this movie for children. It’s violent, gory, and it’s what nightmares are made of. It’s is a great date movie, especially if your hot girl is jumpy.
So, onto the Maverick portion of this review. From here there will be a handful of key spoilers, plot giveaways, and if you didn’t see the movie, I seriously recommend you stop reading now.
DIRECTION ANALYSIS
Jordan Peele was known for his comedy sketch show, Key and Peele, that ran for five seasons on Comedy Central. For a while, he made his home in the world of comedy as an actor and writer, never venturing outside his creative box until he produced, wrote, and directed Get Out, a groundbreaking horror film.
Us was directed rather well. The 1st Act did drag a little and almost put me to sleep, but once it the 1st Turning Point hit, the movie was non-stop action.
Peele may just be the next great horror director of our time. I’ve heard some critics compare him to the Hitchcock or Wes Craven. I wouldn’t disagree. He’s good and he’ll only get better.
The script, though, was extremely weak, and I’ll get into that on the next block. But there are times when you don’t need a strong screenplay to make a great movie. The director main job is to entertain, and Peele did exactly that.
GRADE: A
THE SCREENPLAY
I don’t give this screenplay a lot of high marks. It’s not a script that I would recommend that you try to imitate, unless of course, you’re as talented as Jordan Peele.
THE PLOT
I honestly thought the plot was VERY stupid.
Who invented the clones? We’re not sure. Why were they were invented? It was never explained other than that they were tied to real life souls. Were the clones used to manipulate elections, change politics of the nation, or increase violence? Maybe? The script didn’t say anything. Were there LGBTQ clones? That’s a good question. There’s no explanation!
The clones, through their female leader, Red, planned to take over the United States by killing their originals, and to make their presence known by holding hands with each other across the nation. Smart plan? How about a dumb plan? Holding hands? Really? That’s the best way to show force?
These clones are 100% human, very athletic, and can leap onto a moving car like a superhero – which ironically is NOT 100% human (but remember they are 100% human – UHM WHAT?). They are very dumb but can figure out where you live, or will be, or where you will drive – eventually- because they are connected to you. That means they know before you
Oh yeah, before I forget, the clones didn’t escape to the surface all this time – because they couldn’t get past a one-way escalator. Alrighty then.
But that’s forgivable – the audience didn’t mind and that’s what counts. I mean, it could’ve been written with a little more carefulness, to avoid holes that are big enough to drive a semi-truck through? Right?
The biggest hole that bothered me?
No one in California seems to have any guns! Let alone the entire United States! The 2nd amendment doesn’t exist in this world! And there’s no sign of any National Guard, Police, or U.S. Military. Not one bomb is dropped by our U.S. Government. Not one gun is fired throughout the whole movie! Can you believe that? Not one gunshot in California?!!!!
Like I said there’s a lot of holes. I can keep going but I won’t.
PLOT GRADE: F
THE CHARACTERS
All of the characters are flat, so forget about me tacking on a personality to any of them for you to study. They have no personality. There’s no Enneagram analysis here. The purpose of each character is to kill and not get killed, and for you to like them by the end of the 1st Act. One more comment, the parenting skills in this movie are beyond bad. Does anyone watch their kids in this movie?
Adelaide Wilson (the mother) – suffered from a traumatic childhood experience when she wandered off from her drunk father and into a funhouse full of mirrors. She ends up becoming a natural kick ass after the midpoint of the movie and ends up killing her clone – at least that’s what the audience thinks.
But what we find out is that Adelaide Wison pulled a quick-change with her original back in the 80’s while in the funhouse, and the clone ended up living the good life, and raising a normal family, while the original lived in the tunnels.
So Adelaide, who was formally part of the underground zombies, is now the main protagonist and is the hero of the movie.
Other than that, there’s no growth. I can’t even try to classify her personality because there’s nothing there. She has PTSD and can kick ass. That’s it.
- Red – (who is the original living in the tunnels), talks like a hybrid version of a deaf person and Elizabeth Holmes. I don’t know why, but she forgot how to walk up one-way escalator like other kids and couldn’t escape. And where’d she get that ballerina dress from?
- Gabe Wilson – (the father) – He’s the cliche beta male who is the whiny father who cracks cheesy jokes and relies on luck to defend his family, despite being 6’5 and 300 lbs of testosterone. It’s his 5’5 wife who can kick ass, not him.
- Their kids – seem to be natural born killers, by the way, and have no problem doing it. They were born to do this. No training, they just flipped a switch and they can kill with no remorse. Kinda weird.
There’s a stupid scene in the movie where the daughter wants to drive the car, and for a good minute or so, there is a typical parent/child argument exchange that is just frustratingly stupid. It’s really idiotic once you see it. I mean, you want to argue – now? When there a pseudo-zombie apocalypse going on? About being old enough to drive – really?
CHARACTER GRADE: F
HIDDEN AGENDA
Jordan Peele had an agenda in this movie that he disclosed after the movie was released. Apparently, the clones were supposed to represent the lower class of citizens of the United States, who were being used and controlled by the elite. The underground people were supposed to represent US – the real average Americans. Really?
I usually catch agendas but this one flew right over my head. There were so many holes in the movie that threw my brain off, that this one just flew over me, and around. Maybe it was a bit too much symbolism for my brain. My other friend got it, though. Did you?
SCREENPLAY SUCKS BUT THE MOVIE STILL WORKS
Despite my great disapproval of the screenplay, the movie is still really good. Isn’t that weird? It’s very entertaining, the audience loved it, and that’s what counts over everything. The script doesn’t matter at all. Not a cent.
Also, it made money and was a great investment.
It was cheap to shoot, easy to market, Jordan Peele is the studio’s best friend, and he’s going to be making a lot of movies in the future. And I’ll see his next movie with no hesitation.
By the way, if you’re wondering what Jeremiah 11:11 says, here it is:
“So I say, I will bring trouble on them. They will not be able to escape it. They will cry out to me. But I will not listen to them.”
OVERALL GRADE: A
Steve Young
