Oppenheimer starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., David Krumhotlz, and Florence Pugh is a film that takes us through the development of the atomic bomb through the infamous Manhattan Project and explores the implications it has on the real world.
Christopher Nolan’s films are regarded as one of the highest quality of cinematic events in our generation. The storylines, the cinematography, and the character development always seems to hit the mark, and Oppenheimer is no exception.
Oppenheimer delivered such a spectacularly written narrative that you almost don’t want to believe it is real but it definitely is and that should frighten us. Oppenheimer delves into the chain reaction of the creation of the atomic bomb and the repercussions that it sets forth. It frighteningly exhibits the dangers of humanity’s curiosity of the unknown while being fueled by one’s own survival. Although the film’s main appeal is the creation of the atomic bomb, the writing and directing made us much more invested in Cillian Murphy’s character Oppenheimer who is morally struggling with what he has unleashed. At the end of this movie, it made me feel so disheartened and uneasy of how there are people that with a push of a button can end humanity in an instance. Also knowing Christopher Nolan’s work and the extensiveness of his studies to prepare for any film, I don’t tend to look up the history to “fact check” but I did anyway for this review and it is just brutal to know how accurate it is from the real life events.
Cillian Murphy’s performance as Oppenheimer should definitely be considered for an Oscar nomination and the highest of accolades. He did a wonderful job conveying the emotions through his body language, dialogue, and his eyes…HIS EYES. There is so much being told with his eyes that doesn’t require any dialogue but delivers the intensity of the scene. Cillian Murphy never really delivers a bad performance in a lot of the media I have watched him in but this is one of his absolute best. Another breakout performance has got to be Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss. Being cemented as the godfather of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is hard to pull away Robert Downey Jr. from Tony Stark but let me tell you, his performance in this project was amazing and it shows that he completely immersed himself in this role. Honorable mentions to Florence Pugh and Emily Blunt delivering top-tier performances as always.
Now, I didn’t watch this film in 70 MM IMAX which is what the director recommended but I was able to watch it in XD with amazing sound quality and I must say, it was a transformative experience. I could only imagine how much more this film would have been elevated if I were to watch it in 70 MM IMAX.
I really can’t say anything too negative about this film because it was legitimately one of the best movies I have watched in a long time. I would say that this film is about 3 hours in length and has a lot of dialogue which may not be appealing to most but I definitely recommend everyone to watch this film if you are a fan of this insane ensemble cast or Christopher Nolan himself. You will not be disappointed.
