- Joined
- Jun 3, 2009
- Messages
- 85,043
- Reaction score
- 18,294
Update: July 19, 2023
Dragonlord’s Review of OPPENHEIMER (No Spoilers)
Bottom Line: Wasn't blown away as it didn't live up to the hype, Oppenheimer is still a solid historical drama with magnificent performances from a first-rate cast and boasts some impressive technical craftsmanship.
Based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus, Oppenheimer marks Christopher Nolan’s first movie that doesn’t heavily involve action, fantasy or a crime thriller elements on it. So it was kinda glaring to me how Nolan employs a lot of filmmaking gimmicks, from the wonderful but manipulative music by Ludwig Goransson always pushing a sense of urgency or the sporadically infuriating quick multiple timeline cuts and editing, to keep the audience from getting bored with the more mundane moments in the film.
Oppenheimer tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, an American theoretical physicist and his pivotal role in creating the atomic bomb. The overall story is fascinating and certain parts of the movie are downright riveting but the first hour or so was pretty lackluster (hence the gimmicks mentioned above). Things get more interesting during the Manhattan Project phase culminating in the intense Trinity test. The third act, which was also entertaining, mainly centers on the political fallout complete with the dramatic unveiling of the antagonistic mastermind.
The film is presented in two formats to distinguish between two different perspectives: technicolor, to represent the film from Oppenheimer's perspective, and black & white, to represent a more objective outlook of the events.
Featuring 79 speaking roles, the film boasts a who’s who ensemble cast that will make Oppenheimer undoubtedly qualify among the “movies with best ensemble cast” discussion. Cillian Murphy gives a terrific performance as the titular character but there’s a warmth quality missing from the actor to make me fully connect with his role.
Giving his best acting work in many years, Robert Downey Jr. as American businessman Lewis Strauss steals the movie in the last hour. Emily Blunt, who played Oppenheimer's wife, also stood out and her scenes in the last hour were great. Matt Damon was good acting-wise but I just thought he was miscast as General Leslie Groves and found this chubby version too distracting. Avid fans of Florence Pugh, who plays romantic interest Jean Tatlock, should definitely watch this to see her many naughty bits.
The female nudity and sex scenes in here were a surprise since Nolan has not done these type of exhibition in his previous movies. I think it was a calculated move to include them as to spice things up since the subject matter might not be too enthralling to some. It's a similar move by TV shows where they give you some nudity/sex scenes in episode 1 or 2 to hook in viewers. But I do question the use of the infamous line, “I am become death, the destroyer of worlds,” in the film's sex scene. It was kinda awkward and, depending on the viewer, ridiculous.
The film is a cautionary tale on the dangers of a nuclear arms race and nuclear annihilation. So I thought it was missing a key scene that would have hammered the message home, which is the bombing of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Story-wise, It would have also satisfactorily completed the Manhattan Project arc much better. In the film, they just briefly mention the bombing in the radio. 32 years ago, Terminator 2 showed a dream sequence of a nuclear blast which was disturbingly terrifying and is also unofficially declared as “one of the most accurate depictions of a nuclear blast ever created for the screen”. Oppenheimer could have been more powerful if they showed the Japan bombing.
A possible explanation as to why Nolan did not show the Japan bombings might be his desire to not depict the explosion using CGI. Nolan and his team constructed a real bomb to film it for the Trinity test scene.
I definitely need a second viewing to solidify my thoughts on the film and possibly appreciate the film more. Despite being let down by the hype, I still found Oppenheimer to be solid, entertaining historical drama with magnificent performances from a first-rate cast and boasting some impressive technical craftsmanship on cinematography, editing, sound and practical effects.
PRELIMINARY RATING: 7/10
(Please leave a Like if you appreciate my reviews. Thanks.)
Dragonlord’s Review of OPPENHEIMER (No Spoilers)
Bottom Line: Wasn't blown away as it didn't live up to the hype, Oppenheimer is still a solid historical drama with magnificent performances from a first-rate cast and boasts some impressive technical craftsmanship.
Based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus, Oppenheimer marks Christopher Nolan’s first movie that doesn’t heavily involve action, fantasy or a crime thriller elements on it. So it was kinda glaring to me how Nolan employs a lot of filmmaking gimmicks, from the wonderful but manipulative music by Ludwig Goransson always pushing a sense of urgency or the sporadically infuriating quick multiple timeline cuts and editing, to keep the audience from getting bored with the more mundane moments in the film.
Oppenheimer tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, an American theoretical physicist and his pivotal role in creating the atomic bomb. The overall story is fascinating and certain parts of the movie are downright riveting but the first hour or so was pretty lackluster (hence the gimmicks mentioned above). Things get more interesting during the Manhattan Project phase culminating in the intense Trinity test. The third act, which was also entertaining, mainly centers on the political fallout complete with the dramatic unveiling of the antagonistic mastermind.
The film is presented in two formats to distinguish between two different perspectives: technicolor, to represent the film from Oppenheimer's perspective, and black & white, to represent a more objective outlook of the events.
Featuring 79 speaking roles, the film boasts a who’s who ensemble cast that will make Oppenheimer undoubtedly qualify among the “movies with best ensemble cast” discussion. Cillian Murphy gives a terrific performance as the titular character but there’s a warmth quality missing from the actor to make me fully connect with his role.
Giving his best acting work in many years, Robert Downey Jr. as American businessman Lewis Strauss steals the movie in the last hour. Emily Blunt, who played Oppenheimer's wife, also stood out and her scenes in the last hour were great. Matt Damon was good acting-wise but I just thought he was miscast as General Leslie Groves and found this chubby version too distracting. Avid fans of Florence Pugh, who plays romantic interest Jean Tatlock, should definitely watch this to see her many naughty bits.
The female nudity and sex scenes in here were a surprise since Nolan has not done these type of exhibition in his previous movies. I think it was a calculated move to include them as to spice things up since the subject matter might not be too enthralling to some. It's a similar move by TV shows where they give you some nudity/sex scenes in episode 1 or 2 to hook in viewers. But I do question the use of the infamous line, “I am become death, the destroyer of worlds,” in the film's sex scene. It was kinda awkward and, depending on the viewer, ridiculous.
The film is a cautionary tale on the dangers of a nuclear arms race and nuclear annihilation. So I thought it was missing a key scene that would have hammered the message home, which is the bombing of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Story-wise, It would have also satisfactorily completed the Manhattan Project arc much better. In the film, they just briefly mention the bombing in the radio. 32 years ago, Terminator 2 showed a dream sequence of a nuclear blast which was disturbingly terrifying and is also unofficially declared as “one of the most accurate depictions of a nuclear blast ever created for the screen”. Oppenheimer could have been more powerful if they showed the Japan bombing.
A possible explanation as to why Nolan did not show the Japan bombings might be his desire to not depict the explosion using CGI. Nolan and his team constructed a real bomb to film it for the Trinity test scene.
I definitely need a second viewing to solidify my thoughts on the film and possibly appreciate the film more. Despite being let down by the hype, I still found Oppenheimer to be solid, entertaining historical drama with magnificent performances from a first-rate cast and boasting some impressive technical craftsmanship on cinematography, editing, sound and practical effects.
PRELIMINARY RATING: 7/10
(Please leave a Like if you appreciate my reviews. Thanks.)
