Oppenheimer is almost here! That’s right folks, Christopher Nolan’s latest film is coming to a cinema near you and I am here to discuss my thoughts. Starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr. and an absolutely bonkers cast, this film tells the story of a man, who changed the course of human history.
Oppenheimer, we’ve all heard the name. If you went to school you were at some point taught what he achieved. If you delved deeper you’d learn how truly incredible his achievement was, you’d also learn how truly horrific it was as well.
This is what Oppenheimer the film achieves. By the end of the film, you come to understand what kind of man Robert was. He was phenomenally intelligent, he was also surprisingly naive. He was a womaniser, he had several ideologies that kept him a target of his own government for decades, but most importantly, he was human.
This is what Cillian Murphy brings to the titular character. He’s not just a monolith of history. In this film, he is a man simply living in our world and simultaneously in another. He has his flaws, and his vices and he is also a deeply empathic figure. He may learn from his lessons too late at times, but that makes his journey to those conclusions all the more interesting. Murphy brings all these complexities out in his performance and he’s brilliant.
He is surrounded by a phenomenal cast. Blunt plays Oppenheimer’s wife Kitty and she too is a fascinating figure. Witty, smart with her own issues she is yet another piece of this megaton machine of a film. She has one particular scene that just floored me.
The chances are near zero
Then there is the other half of this film, a portion of the film that follows Robert Downey Jr.’s character Lewis Strauss. This section of the film is dominated by Downey and he is spectacular. He is a man trying to save himself from a pain caused by Oppenheimer and Downey brings an incredible demeanour to the role. I’ve actually not seen him this impressive in a long time.
On a final note around the acting, there is a terrifying scene with Casey Affleck. It plays out almost like a horror. Affleck is in and out of the film in maybe 5 minutes, but his presence is highly impactful.
Nolan, in my opinion, has never made a bad film. There are arguments for varying quality but for me, they’ve always been fairly top-tier. Some would say his films can have a sense of sterility to them, with no real emotion or humour. With regard to Oppenheimer, I would say there is a definite sense of empathy within this film and these characters. To push that sense of foreboding onto an audience when your character has crafted the ultimate weapon, a weapon that potentially could wipe out all of life on the planet is incredible. Not only that there is a macabre gallows humour throughout the film, plus it doesn’t hurt that Matt Damon brings some signature charm with him wherever he goes.
Oppenheimer is also a visual and auditory wonder. It must be seen in a cinema to fully feel the sense of intensity and grandeur of Oppenheimer’s world. I found myself in complete awe at multiple points throughout the course of the film. And when that bomb goes off, oh boy does it go off. Now, I will say because of Nolan’s auditory style this, at times, will remind audiences of certain issues many of his films suffer from. He wishes to overwhelm you and he achieves this, to the detriment of the film at times. This is rare, but critics of his style will not be best pleased when this occurs.
I find myself pausing every time I’m about to write something about this film. I’m bursting at the seems ready to gush about the narrative callbacks that I’m still relishing in. The thematic choices of black and white and full colour to portray a person’s viewpoint that are subtle and profound. These are all simply outstanding and I just want to share them with you, but I’ll rob you of the same revelatory moments I had that knocked me for a loop. This doesn’t even bring into account that everything in this film was practical effects. So, I will leave you with this, head to your local cinema and experience Oppenheimer, it’s a history lesson that will leave you better for it.
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