Oppenheimer is quite literally the opposite movie of Barbie in this barbenheimer mania. It’s a bleak 3 hour drama that is incredibly poignant and thought provoking. Oppenheimer lives up to the hype and is an incredibly interesting and dreadful story of how the atomic bomb was created.
The movie does a wonderful job of keeping the audience entertained during its long run time and I never felt the length at all. That’s largely due in part to the constantly moving story. We’re switching between past and present and a hearing and the creation of the bomb.
Learning the history and the creation of one of the most deadly bombs in American history was incredibly fascinating but also devastating. We’re started off by this excitement of the creation and then by the end we realize the gravity of the creation and of the situation.
Oppenheimer creates an incredibly complex conversation. Because of the incredibly dire circumstances of WWII Oppenheimer had this mentality of if not me then someone else will create this bomb. Also, do we really think that Germany and the nazis would have really created this bomb and been able to if we had not?
It’s an incredibly rich conversation of what if’s. But we are living in the now and Oppenheimer does a wonderful job of painting an important picture of how much destruction the creation of the atomic bomb has created. Bigger bombs have now been made, more people have now died and Oppenheimer has to live with this fact that he started the chain reaction of destruction.
This thread is weaved through the whole movie that we’re leading up to the destruction of man. And we’re met with dazzling images of particles, reactions and flames that go on inside the mind of Oppenheimer. It was a marvel to feel like we were taking a dive inside one of the greatest scientific minds of all time.
The history of this movie is not only accurate but thrilling. Yes they are skipping some moments or moving quickly in some and adding some moments for Hollywood flare. But, the main theme and topic of this is a movie about Oppenheimer and his incredibly revolutionary and destructive invention of the atomic bomb is never lost and is front and center always.
Oppenheimers mind was great but his creation caused devastation to the world and the movie depicts this. The audience is left on the edge of their seat as we see the creative process of this massive weapon. And when we finally see the successful test we are quite literally blown away by visuals and sounds.
It was also interesting to watch the landscape of politics during the time and how that affected the the creation. The communist party is gaining traction in the U.S. at the time, and around the world at the time, therefore triggering the “red scare” and how that’s depicted here is wonderful. The communist are depicted as empathetic and kind and understanding, whereas anti communists are depicted as petty vindictive ghouls which couldn’t be more true.
I feel as though that’s why Oppenheimer always sided with the communists and their ideology and their people because he knew the consequences of his actions and creations but unfortunately the actions of the anti communists were far more sinister than he could’ve imagined however ignorant he was about them. And the actions of those anti communists were sadly louder and stronger to our way the empathy and conversation and instead led straight to destruction.
The communists in the movie (Einstein, Oppenheimers brother, Oppenheimers lover, Oppenheimers wife, and Oppenheimers closest friends) were all having conversations about how Oppenheimer’s bomb could destroy the world and open up a wound that couldn’t be closed (which it did). While anti communists in the movie were doing everything they could to just destroy the other country and become the strongest most powerful country with no thought for others.
Oppenheimer has one scene that left me with goosebumps, tears in my eyes, and chills running up my spine. That scene was Oppenheimer’s speech to the scientists and families at Los Alamos after the successful test run. The sound of the stomps in the stands, the cheers, the screams, the cries, the lighting, then the flashes of devastation. I get chills thinking about it now. It could be one of the best scenes ever created in my opinion. Perfectly encapsulating the scientific success but the impending doom and destruction the creation will cause. This scene is largely successful due to the incredibly sound design, and cinematography as well as Cillian Murphy’s incredible performance.
Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer is absolutely perfect and mesmerizing. He’s able to become Oppenheimer and doesn’t go over the top but instead makes you feel sympathetic for a man who really loved science. He also creates nuance to Oppenheimer because in some ways you feel bad for him but in some ways you don’t because after all he still decided to do this. All of this is credited to Murphy’s brilliant performance.
The other star studded cast does a wonderful job with standouts being Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s wife, Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss and Matt Damon as Leslie Groves. Blunt and RDJ in particular have some scene stealing moments. Rami Malek and Florence Pugh although their screen time is incredibly short make the absolute most out of that time as expected.
Oppenheimer is a devastating, captivating three hour experience that everyone should see. Man can hold the power to destroy themselves and created that destruction. Oppenheimer could be the most chilling movie of the year because we are still living with the consequences of this creation many years later and we will never be able to escape it.
I give Oppenheimer an A
