Movie Review - Oppenheimer

 

Oooo, it's always tough to pick a film when two major ones come out at the same time. But what's interesting is that, these two kinds of films being released at the same time, isn't exactly the first time it has happened. Christopher Nolan is of course no stranger to having his big complicated, but blockbuster films being released the same time as a film where a young, hot and attractive blonde girl (and her equally attractive boyfriend) is the main protagonist. Think back when we got Mamma Mia and The Dark Knight which are both, of course, the best example of that here. For this last weekend, I decided to give Nolan a chance, especially as he has kind of parted ways with Warner Brothers due to how they would have films simultaneously be released on the big screen and streaming. Whereas, Universal (which this film was distributed by) tend to give cinemas a greater chance to make money before sending their films on their own streaming service. Also, the Barbie film, which Warner Brothers distributed, happens to be this other film that came out the same time as this. Whether it be as revenge on Nolan or whatever else, people just get crazy with the whole idea of two very different films having some kind of connection to the point where cinemas offer people to see both as a double feature known as "Barbenheimer" (and the main character of this film, happens to be called Barbie on occasion throughout). So let's see if this film, about the man who invented a bomb, is more box office gold than a bomb:

The film is a biopic of the titular theoretical physicist, J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy) who became a pivotal figure in the making of the first nuclear weapons as part of the Manhattan Project which, itself, ushered the Atomic Age. It's told in a nonlinear way where it alternates between Oppenheimer's story, his 1954 security hearing and the 1959 confirmation hearing of Lewis Strauss (played by Robert Downey Jr.). All leading to a bomb being tested and used against Japan in the World War II as a means to force them to surrender.

While I wouldn't go as far as to call this Nolan's best film, it's still very good. Plenty of intense moments, lots of complicated stuff going on and much of his usual collaborators are there along with some newcomers. Some of the issues I had are the bomb episodes that Oppenheimer has in some scenes which can be a little distracting as well as how the film is played out which may not be to everyone's tastes for films such as this. But despite that, I had an *ahem* blast with this film (and I ended up being the only one in my group to not need the toilet throughout) and maybe I will check out Barbie, but only once the dust has settled. 9/10