“Oppenheimer” is Christopher Nolan’s latest biopic. It focuses on the development of the atomic bomb both from a historical standpoint, and from the personal lens of its creator, Robert Oppenheimer. The cast is absolutely stacked, featuring Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt and the brilliant Cillian Murphy, as the titular physicist. Nolan once again shows his affinity for practical effects over CGI, to amazing results.
As is natural for a film with a dark subject matter, “Oppenheimer” was criticized during its production for what people thought would be the glorification of a controversial figure, but the movie was informative in its portrayal of a complicated man and time in history. It would seem like a three hour long black-and-white historical biopic is super boring, but “Oppenheimer” manages to cover the science and history with the same drama and tension as the dropping of the bomb. Because we live 80 years ahead of the movie’s events, we know what’s going to happen, but the performances are so convincing that the audience truly does consider all of the horrifying possibilities as if they were happening in real time. “Oppenheimer” was a gem that many people got to experience through the “Barbenheimer” trend that circulated for months before both Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” premiered on the same July weekend. Many are saying that this film along with other recent ones like “Everything Everywhere All at Once” are bringing a new wave of enjoyable and Oscar-worthy cinema after countless superhero franchise films and cash-grab remakes have continued to dominate Hollywood in recent years.
No surprise to Nolan fans, “Oppenheimer” was a technical achievement. Using miniatures and small controlled explosions, Nolan blended modern IMAX cameras with classic black and white filmmaking techniques to create a style entirely unique to this movie. For the first time in what seems like decades, the common moviegoer actually had to consider what screen would best suit the film’s specs instead of passively waiting for it to become available on their laptop. Oscar nominations are expected from this movie, not just in technical categories, which I’m predicting a sweep in, but also in the amazing performances. Standouts being Robert Downey Jr, who I’m seeing up against Ryan Gosling’s Ken for supporting actor, Florence Pugh, who I can’t see beat for supporting actress, and Cillian Murphy for best actor. I really do think Nolan’s film will go the distance.
I give “Oppenheimer” 5 out of 5 stars.
