Christopher Nolan’s, long-awaited Atomic epic Oppenheimer is now arriving. I saw it in stunning, 70 millimeter IMAX and I sat through all three hours and nine seconds of this drama. Is this going to be Nolan’s magnum opus? Now one thing before I dive into my review. I know there’s been a lot of confusion online about critics influencers and the current strike that’s going on in Hollywood.
Now. First, let me say I a hundred percent stand with and support the wga and sag-aftra in their pursuit of fair and needed changes in salaries, working conditions, residuals just everything. The wga and sag-aftra have both come out and stated very clearly that critics don’t fall under the strike in any way as we’re not actually promoting the works, but instead are offering meaningful critiques on the art and then we’re not paid by any Studio. To talk about the movies or shows, I hope that you’re going to stand with the writers and actors so that they can attain their incredibly reasonable and fair requests. Alright, now on to my review, Oppenheimer tells the story of American theoretical physicist J, Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb okay.
So while the Stars Killian Murphy, Emily Blunt Robert Downey Jr and Matt Damon, there are so many other actors that appear in this that it would really take just way too long and become very boring for me to list them all. Suffice to say, though, that in just about every frame I was noticing a new but familiar face. I love how stacked the cast is and even if a character had a very minor role, it was fun to see him on such a huge project. So, as I said, I saw this in 70 millimeter IMAX on a five-story screen and while the aspect ratio constantly changes throughout the film when it goes full screen, the imagery is nothing short of stunning. Portions are in a widescreen format and when we need to see expansive locations, or maybe the Grandeur and massiveness of an area, the picture goes full screen to just completely dominate our field of view.
Now I am curious how this is going to look on a non-imac screen or even on IMAX that doesn’t have 70 millimeter now, even before we see an explosion, we’re showing images of particles and Embers as they float chaotically but rhythmically across the screen. The colors are typically very vibrant, which then stand out all the more against the utterly black backdrop, and something that’s wonderfully visually. Is that when we’re watching certain aspects of the story, the presentation is in black and white, and these two are breathtaking. I mean the depth of the blacks and the Grays, it’s somewhat mesmerizing, and then it makes the scenes enveloping. Killian Murphy.
He is brilliant in this, while he’s not totally shown as a hero, he is displayed as a human being flawed insightful and sometimes charismatic, but making him human rather than lifting him up as infallible and perfect. He then becomes very relatable and sympathetic, and not all of his actions are noble or honorable, but there is a sense of honesty. That’S portrayed as he knowingly struggles with his thoughts and actions, and one thing that really stood out to me was his ability to express the moral dilemmas that he wrestled within his mind. The emotion that’s captured in his eyes. It just speaks volumes and while there are portions, when Murphy isn’t actually speaking his eyes are shouting his thoughts loud and clear and Matt Damon is another standout in this.
He doesn’t have nearly the same amount of screen time as Murphy, but his presence is wonderful. There’S a charm that Damon has that just comes across in all of his acting, even if he’s not playing somebody that we are meant to fully behind. I mean he’s able to draw Us in with his sincerity and the matter of fact added attitude that he brings to his Soldier character, it’s convincing and it balances well against Murphy’s science-based background. I was a little shocked at how much screen time and story prevalence. Robert Downey Jr had in this while it’s hard to separate him totally from his Tony Stark character.
He is wonderful to watch because of the just the hubris that his character displays the pride and self-assuredness it’s both impressive and sickening and RDJ captures it flawlessly and he’s a character that we love to hate. If given the chance and he’s also played with a smarmy angle, which then makes him even more of a robust and nuanced character, Florence Pew has a small but significant role, and I, like the darkness of her character. She brings a level of complication to the story and, while that complication probably would still exist without her character, Pew and Murphy, they have a good and dysfunctional chemistry together and finally, with Emily Blunt, she doesn’t have a ton of story time, but when she’s on screen, She absolutely sells the performance. There are very subtle characteristics. She displays that give us huge insight into our character’s state of mind, and I love how much passion she brings to her character as oppenheimer’s wife, she’s explosive and intense, and makes a great match for The Quiet of Oppenheimer.
I mean their Dynamic works, even if it’s not always healthy. Now, despite this being three hours and nine seconds, which I know is just a funny fact, but Nolan made a big deal of actually putting that out. I was fully enthralled in the story and this takes us through a large portion of oppenheimer’s life and it’s told as sort of a mystery or even a courtroom drama, even though there isn’t any courtroom and the level of detail we get in his story. I thought it was incredible showing how things in his past haunt his present, especially where governmental clearance is concerned, and sometimes the narrative felt like it was packing in too much information. But as the story progressed and more context was provided, the scenes began to fall into place, rounding out the story, angles which then created some really robust plot lines.
Now something Nolan has always utilized well in his movies is, is the score to just elicit energy and emotion, and here it’s no different scores by Ludwig Goranson, and there is so much to love about it. I mean something that really stood out to me was the use of intermingled sounds with the score to then create urgency and even dread, for example, as the bomb is being constructed and then loaded for testing the music is swelling and building just with all this intensity And then sprinkled throughout are sounds of a geiger counter. I mean it’s subtly reminding us that what we’re watching is radioactive and insanely dangerous, and there are also several times when the music crescendos to such a point that you almost want to cover your ears and it’s meant to be somewhat deafening as it matches the internal Thoughts and fears of Oppenheimer and masterfully there are also sequences of silence, and that too, can be deafening, as we just wait with anticipation for what’s coming, allowing that silence to almost suck the air out of the room kind of like the initial explosion of the bomb. Before the shock wave then travels out to decimate everything in its path now, something that is of issue is the balance between musical score volume and dialogue. Now it’s not nearly as bad as it was in tenet because throughout most of this dialogue, it’s very discernible and audible.
But there are some key moments where we’re meant to hear the words being spoken because of just their story importance. But I found myself really struggling to hear what was being said over the volume of that score. Now I wish this wasn’t the case, because in these instances I was broken out of the story and then immediately aware of my surroundings, the illusion of the story disappeared, and then I had to enter back into it at times. Also, the camera work was a little distracting as a shallower. Depth of field was utilized, causing some of the subjects to fall out of focus, especially on close-ups, where it’s also the most noticeable, and this wasn’t an issue consistently throughout the film, but towards the end of the movie.
It did become more prevalent and something I wasn’t expecting in this is that there are essentially two stories being told they intertwine all throughout. But there is a distinct point that felt like the movie had reached its Climax and was beginning to wrap up. Only then to continue on for about an hour more now I was still completely invested in the narrative and I was loving the building Intrigue and tension, but it was a noticeable shift in the storytelling that could make the movie seem even longer than it is for Some, I think, the convergence of the storytelling, it works very well and actually it creates a somewhat suspenseful Arc. I also enjoyed the events that been unfolded and how they influenced the rest of the story, and this ends up being a thrilling drama with phenomenal acting and it’s all topped off with a stunning and artistically shot explosion, the fear, dread, destruction and even Beauty. They’Re all captured in this phenomenal column of fire overall Oppenheimer is a captivating story, wonderfully helmed by Christopher Nolan and expertly led by Killian Murphy.
The cinematography is magnificent capturing the awesome power of a bomb while also showcasing the vulnerability and flaws of the humans that created it. While the camera’s focus on subject is sometimes a little soft and the audio is a little out of balance at times. The musical score is emotionally moving and thrilling guiding us through the excitement of Discovery with the urgency of a looming countdown there’s sex and nudity a lot of profanity and just a little bit of violence. I give Oppenheimer four and a half out of five couches. So, are you excited for this film?
Do you have a favorite, Christopher Nolan movie now Interstellar is one of my all-time favorites and I also really love the prestige, but I’d love to know yours in the comments below.
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