There are very few filmmakers working today that cause fans to get as excited for an upcoming movie as Christopher Nolan does. We have seen it in recent years with films such as Dunkirk and Tenet, and this time around with Oppenheimer, the case was no different.
It goes without saying that Oppenheimer has been the highest-anticipated movie of the year so far, and I wouldn’t fear going as far as saying that this will remain the case for the remainder of 2023.
So, when July 21st came around, Christopher Nolan’s next masterpiece already had extremely high expectations to live up to.
Oppenheimer essentially follows the life of a theoretical physicist in the 1940’s and 50’s, that goes by the name of J. Robert Oppenheimer. The well-known scientist had the responsibility of leading The Manhattan Project throughout the second World War that would go on to cause the invention of the world’s first nuclear bomb.
The success of this project would then go on to give Oppenheimer the title of “The Father of the atomic bomb”.
For this film, Nolan recalled his long-time colleague and friend, Cillian Murphy, to take on the responsibility of bringing the character of Oppenheimer to the big screen.
The British filmmaker and Irish actor have worked with each other on 5 projects before Oppenheimer. With their partnership dating all the way back to 2005 with Batman Begins.
Although Murphy has produced an extremely impressive catalogue of performances throughout his long and entertaining acting career, his portrayal of Oppenheimer is far and away his best.
The way that Murphy was able to capture the personality and likeness of Oppenheimer and portray him in such a way that he comes across as a likeable person to the audience is easily the Irish actor’s most challenging assignment yet. And he passed with flying colours.
Although the official awards season is quite the way away yet, don’t be surprised to see Murphy gain some recognition from the Academy when the time comes around in early 2024.
Oppenheimer himself is also surrounded by an extremely intriguing and impressive supporting cast that make every attempt they can to attempt to steal the show from Murphy.
Robert Downey Jr. deserves every praise he may receive for his portrayal of Lewis Strauss in this film. For years Downey has been seen as the poster boy for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the iconic character of Iron Man.
But Downey Jr. has once again proven that he is more than capable of taking on challenging roles that don’t go by the name of Tony Stark.
Honourable mentions must also be recognised, as Florence Pugh and Emily Blunt do an excellent job in portraying Oppenheimer’s opposing love interests in this film. Pugh as Jene Tatlock, and Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer, Robert’s wife throughout the second World War.
The real question that is consistently being asked throughout this movie is as to whether creating the world’s first nuclear bomb was a good idea, and whether in doing so, Oppenheimer might have just formed the beginning of the end.
The quote, read straight from the book American Prometheus, “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds”, aims directly at the idea that Oppenheimer himself believes he has begun a chain reaction that would inevitably lead to earth’s downfall.
There are a number of scenes and sequences throughout this film that can be described as a true excellence in filmmaking, but one sticks out amongst the others for sure that can only be described as a cinematic masterpiece.
When Oppenheimer and the rest of the scientists decide to test the nuclear bomb for real, which in real time was the equivalent to flipping a coin to determine whether it would be a success or not, audiences can’t help but be blown away by the excellence that is Christopher Nolan.
Both physically and metaphorically.
Whilst Oppenheimer can only be described as a true masterpiece and a once-in-a-generation kind of movie, the three-hour run time can easily turn moviegoer’s heads away from this film.
A large percent of moviegoing audiences these days don’t feel the need, nor do they want to sit through a three-hour film anymore. Add in the fact that the film itself is a very dialogue-heavy screenplay, it can become easy for audience members to become lost within this film.
And becoming lost within a movie can only lead to one thing… boredom.
I for one, however, had no problem sitting through the 180-minute run time that Christopher Nolan serves up on a plate for us. There are very few points throughout this movie that I found myself unintrigued with the storyline, as I was constantly gripped and enticed throughout.
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