Oppenheimer – Movie Review
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan, Kai Bird, Martin Sherwin (Screenplay)
Cast
- Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later, Retreat)
- Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow)
- Matt Damon (The Martian, Air)
- Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man, Gothika)
- Florence Pugh (Don’t Worry Darling)
Plot: The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.
Runtime: 3 Hours
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review Story: Oppenheimer starts as we get to follow Robert Oppenheimer (Murphy) discuss his early career in science. We learn of the genius minds he met before the war all while leading up to his time on the Manhattan project. Elsewhere, Lewis Strauss (Downey Jr) is going through his own public hearing discussing his relationship with Robert.
The two men tell their career stories, as we get to learn of their involvement in creating the first atomic bomb. It shows the theory behind the creation, along with the consequences of making one.
Verdict on Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer is a biopic drama that follows the life of Robert Oppenheimer and his role in creating the first Atomic Bomb. It shows how he meet scientific minds from around the world before getting assigned the project. Meanwhile, he faces his life in the aftermath of his creation.
The first thing to say about this movie is the fact it is long, it feels long and it doesn’t need to be this long. There are large parts of the first half of the film that could easily be skipped. When it comes to the second half of the film. Business picks up, as we get to see more in-depth conversations about whether they should or shouldn’t build the bombs. Along with a discussion about what they will do to the world.
However, we get another hearing going on that is more about political positioning than the deeper meaning. While there are big moments that eye up the idea of the bigger consequences. We don’t spend enough time on that aspect. The bomb sequences are great, but nowhere near as breath-taking as we would imagine them to be.
We do get wonderful performances from a massive cast of talent. The list of talent felt endless as there are countless characters in this movie. However, this doesn’t stop this from becoming the weakest movie from Christopher Nolan to date with a bloated run time and unimportant subplots going on.
Final Thoughts –Oppenheimer has great scenes, but a bloated runtime.
4 replies on “Oppenheimer (2023) Movie Review”
Well, I’ve seen the movie but it didn’t get me entirely.
Will share my view in a review soon!
Thanks for this dive into the film and the running time. It seems that certain Directors have forgotten how to edit themselves – an “opus” can also be tiresome, and I saw a review of FB that said the same and the person was skewered – and accused of “not being smart enough” to appreciate the film…interesting how fanatical his fans are and how they have started attacking anyone who points out any flaws…and yes, I love Scorsese and HATED the length of “The Irishman”.
It might just be me, most reviews/reactions are loving it. but you know me well enough, I don’t tend to follow the crowd. I think if you know more of the history you will get more out of the movie. This is the lowest scoring Nolan film and this is from someone that defends Dunkirk as one of the best ever war movies.
I think it will be interesting to see Meteoritic scores…critics have LOVED it but we’ll see how audiences take to it…and gain, we all have films we love and hate differently!