Oppenheimer | Film Review

 

During World War II, J. Robert Oppenheimer and a team of scientists create the atomic bomb that leads to the world's first nuclear explosion.

I wanted to see this back when the whole Barbie vs Oppenheimer thing was happening in the summer, but only got around to seeing Barbie. But Oppenheimer was always on my radar and I'm glad I've finally seen it.

Honestly, though, because of all the hype surrounding the movie, I was a bit disappointed. I liked it, but I wasn't as invested as I wanted to be.

The cast was great. Every time you look up there's another unexpected recognisable face on the screen. I thought I knew everyone that was in it because of social media, but there were still some surprises.

The cinematography was the thing that really stood out for me. Of course it's not unusual for a Christopher Nolan film to be beautifully shot, but this is no exception.

I was interested in the story, and stayed engaged for the whole three hour runtime, but I wasn't as invested as I could have been. I started the film not caring about Oppenheimer and I ended it the same way.

Speaking of the runtime, it didn't feel like 3 hours to me. I loved Killers of the Flower Moon, but it really felt like a 3.5 hour film. This one flew by.

But having said that, I was much more interested in Oppenheimer's life behind closed doors than the physics and/or bomb aspect of the film, and I'm not sure if that was the intention.

The use of sound was really interesting, and I can only imagine how much better that would have been in an actual cinema.

Overall I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. It was a successful biopic, and I liked it more than Barbie, but I'm not really interested in seeing it again anytime soon.

6.5/10 stars