Oppenheimer
3.5/4
One of the most amazing films I’ve seen all year is the outstanding new Christopher Nolan movie Oppenheimer.
From its magnificent acting, particularly from Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., to its stunning visuals and production values, this may just end up being in my top five greatest movies of the decade. It’s that good.
Oppenheimer is truly a remarkable achievement. It’s an engaging and interesting three-hour movie with no action, fight scenes, or chase sequence that still kept me on the edge of my seat. This movie does it all.
Murphy does a very good job of playing J. Robert Oppenheimer, particularly in terms of his anxiety. Oppenheimer was a scientist who created the world’s first atomic bomb; while this did usher in the end of World War II, it caused him anxiety and he felt that nuclear war was his fault. The movie does a good job of showing the anxiety brought on by the knowledge of that.
Downey Jr. plays Oppenheimer’s colleague Lewis Strauss. They butted heads a lot, particularly on what to do with nuclear weapons and about Hiroshima—Oppenheimer was against using nuclear weapons on innocent people in the war (to the extent that he had his clearance revoked and was barred from working with nuclear weapons). Strauss completely disagreed and thought the use of the bomb was necessary. Downey Jr. does a terrific job of showing the conflict and getting the audience to empathize with his antagonistic character.
The musical score was created by Ludwig Göransson, and he does a great job. Every track conveys the theme of the scene it’s in perfectly. Another standout is the use of sound; this particular element really puts the viewer inside Oppenheimer’s head. A great example of this is the scene where he has a talk in front of a high school about the science of nuclear weapons and all you can hear is children’s stomping feet mixed in with visions of people being affected by the nuclear bomb (such as a guy vomiting because of being poisoned by the bomb and another person being turned to ash).
Oppenheimer is a staggering film achievement—no one who sees it will forget it.