There will be SPOILERS so...read with caution
Jordan Peele blasted into the cinematic universe with his uneasy movie "Get Out" In that movie, I recall mentioning how fine of a line he crossed in which he was really calling out the White Liberals, but they seem too dense to know how patronizing they were to Black society. They, in fact, started using them as vessels to live longer.
In "Us" he uses a similar effect, except, now we have doppelganger/clones that are identical, or a little off-shoot of us. As strong and amazing craftsmanship this movie is, it falls under the weight of his own disgust for the present administration AND its people who voted him in office. It's an incredible comparison, and great...until you realize the logic and common sense of it.
It's 1986 and the Hands Across America campaign was in full swing. I recall this because I recall making fun of it. Lame and gay. Still is. But I digress. The next thing, a little girl goes with her parents to the boardwalk and she gets sidetracked into an attraction (house of magic). There she comes across her doppelganger and that is the cold opening.
Fast forward to present day, and the little girl has a family now, along with a Dad who is corny and two kids who would rather be in their own world. One girl, one boy. They go back to the vacation spot to where the Mother grew up. Uneasy.
After a few introductions to rudimentary characters...as the obnoxious party friend and his drunk wife...one night we come across...The Other Family...
This is where I'll curtail into the secrets:
See the doppelgangers are mindless underground dwellers whom are explained is a failed experiment. That underworld got a taste of the upper world when I little girl gets pulled into its clutches and exchanged. Though they look and act like us, they are mindless. And dressed in Trump Red (yep, pretty obvious). Then as they start taking over the world (as Trump's people did) they start to mimic the ones living topside. That is how rural folks start to get into the modern world. By taking their culture and mimicking it. They also return to attempt the Hands Across America. Which resembles the wall that wants to keep Mexicans out of America.
So much good stuff here, EXCEPT...the logic. And that is tragic. How in the flying fuck did these dummies exist prior to a little girl showing them the way? How do they look EXACTLY like us when they have been living underground with artificial light, food scarcity, or commercial retail? How are they being trained when they doppelgangers are all mentally unable to comprehend the simplest of commands. And THIS is the issue with the movie that makes it okay when it could've been a PERFECT movie. It's so well made that many people will not see the common sense flaws, or will forgive it. It seemed, like most Blue state movies, that it desperately wanted to staple the message to the American Constitution, it forgot it was a movie first. Though, I didn't feel it was TOO heavy handed, and you can read what you want, the point Peele is attempting to make is that the underground dwellers (Republicans) have taken over by dumb brute force and violence. If you agree with this, none of the logic flaws matter, if you don't...then you will most likely not care for this movie.
To me, it all comes down to common sense. Maybe it doesn't require it, since it's maybe a spiritual commentary. It has nothing to do with science, but requires you allow these "experiments gone wrong" to be the only explanation (worked for Spielberg). Good on that.
I do love the references throughout the movie that tells me Peele studies HARD. He has all the beats of an 80's horror down and nice little references to other movies. Too many to put down here. And there are logic to some of the weirdness. Again, it's because this one nagging thought of the big secret at the end where the character of the upperworld is swapped and then we realize it's the underground dweller who infiltrated the upperworld and lived a full life while the upperworld girl lived underground and "taught" the doppelgangers? That is the core problem and the movie collapses under that weight.
I really wanted to love this movie, instead, I just like it.
Overall, Jordan Peele is a serious movie maker. He impresses me as he is a student of cinema. I'm excited he is the real new generation instead of put-upon token hires that don't do anything interesting.
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