A Major Disappointment

Rating: 6/10 (23 March 2019)

.To start with, I thought that Peele's previous film Get Out was okay, something not necessarily warrant of a high score, but it was a fun watch. With Us...it was..okay. I feel that this is another example of hype killing a film. For the most part, I liked the performances of Winston Duke and Lupita Nyong'o. The kid actors were also pretty good, not annoying as most cases are with child actors. The Tylers' actors were fine. The double performances that the actors had to do when getting into their Tethered role was impressive.
As for anything else...I'll just admit it, the writing was not good for this movie. While I appreciate that it wasn't going to be about race as Get Out was, there is always a meaning to a film even if it's unintentional. The problem here is that Peele was juggling too many plot ideas. I mean you have the numerous allusions to Jeremiah 11:11, the rabbits, the fact that the Tethered lived in tunnels that were abandoned. The Tethered is an interesting concept on paper, but the issue is Peele seemed to not know what he exactly wanted when making these creatures. I've heard theories that they could represent second-class citizens who were wronged by society among other alternate interpretations, but the Tethered's nature is hard to process. There is an explanation given to the doppelgangers' existence, but the problem is it borders on the realm of absurdity. Get Out had its out there premise of brain transplantation but it was still in a relatively realistic setting. Us on the other hand goes so far pass the point of believability, it takes me out of just accepting what the film is.
Another issue I had was the comedy. While Get Out had comedic moments, they never eclipsed the horror. With Us, there are several moments that are meant to be scary, but they are undermined by comedy. Winston Duke's character for instance doesn't work so much for me. He is supposed to be that stereotypical hip dad that embarrasses the kids, but with Gabe, I felt that he was more annoying to an extent.
Lastly..the twist. I won't give away what it was at first, but when it happened, it irritated me. While it doesn't ruin the movie, it is utterly predictable. From just the first trailer I saw the twist coming from a mile away and I hoped that Peele would wisely opt out of it. But we got it, and it is forever instilled in the audience's collective brains.
It's not a bad film. On the contrary, it is entertaining. The soundtrack is good. However, I feel that the writing has too many holes in it, which is a shame because Peele received an Oscar for his screenplay of his directorial review. The Tethered could've been interesting and probably gone up there with the likes of Skarsgard's Pennywise or the Babadook. Instead, it is a major disappointment. This film should not be compared to Get Out as it is its own thing, so when you decide to watch it, try to keep the lingering comparing it to Get Out film at bay.