OPPENHEIMER is a Tour de Force – REVIEW

I’m writing this review fresh out of the cinema … Maybe it’s an intense case of recency bias, but I think “Oppenheimer” is the film of the year, and certainly one of Christopher Nolan’s crowning achievements.

I’ll go into more detail as the review goes on, but for now I’ll confidently say it’s a tour de force of a film that shines in every department and leaves nothing off the table. You can already give the “Best Picture” Oscar now, as far as I’m concerned.

Word of warning – there won’t be any outright spoilers in my review, but I’m bound to let slip a few details here and there.

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

Story

I’ll try not to give too much away about Oppenheimer’s story (even though most of it is on historical record …), but I will say that Christopher Nolan masterfully bounces between perspectives and time periods without it feeling convoluted or unnecessary. In fact, this film is structured in such a way that every flashback and flash-forward complements the surrounding scenes.

Cillian Murphey anchors the whole thing with his tortured performance as the enigmatic lead character, and the rest of the cast also give career-defining performances. With a cast and script this good, it’s no wonder I was engaged for the whole three hour run-time … Although I’ll go into more detail in my “Not-So-Good” section as to why is wasn’t perfectly structured.

The story worked on every cinematic and thematic level, and I left the screening both speechless and pondering what it means to be human in this volatile world. I do love it when a film makes me ask the big questions of myself and of the planet we live in!

SCORE: 9/10

Style

Before I wax lyrical about Christopher Nolan’s stylistic strengths, let me quickly run down the Oscar categories that I think Oppenheimer has a great shout of winning:

• Best Picture
• Best Director – Christopher Nolan
• Best Actor – Cillian Murphey
• Best Supporting Actress – Emily Blunt (or Florence Pugh)
• Best Supporting Actor – Robert Downey Jr. (or a myriad of others)
• Best Editing – Jennifer Lame
• Best Adapted Screenplay – Christopher Nolan
• Best Score – Ludwig Goransson
• Best Cinematography – Hoyt van Hoytema

Yep … That’s 9 Oscars by my count, not including things like Hair and Make-Up since I wasn’t really looking for those (and don’t really have an opinion either way). Every single department knocked it out of the park, and you can expect a lot of Oppenheimer recognition when awards season rolls around.

Specific praise has to be levelled to Christopher Nolan in particular – his artistic vision shines through in both the Direction and Screenplay, and I’m not surprised people consider this to be his magnum opus. Considering this film is mostly just walking and talking, it’s a miracle he managed to make it so engaging to the Average Joe like me!

SCORE: 10/10

The Not-So-Good

Like with any film, Oppenheimer isn’t perfect. In fairness, most of my gripes are nit-picks or personal grievances rather than genuine criticism. If you’re wary of spoilers, however mild, this will be the section to skip.

The obvious nit-pick, one that I feel many casual movie-goers will agree with, is that the third act felt slow and drawn out. The political story got a bit muddy and confusing as it went, and it was only in the final ten minutes that the previous hour finally felt justified.

I also have a couple of personal gripes – firstly, the sex scenes felt a little weird and overdone. I suppose I should’ve expected a Christopher Nolan sex scene to be odd, but even then it was a little much (I won’t spoil the details, other than the fact there are more than one and they got better as the film went on). Also, and I’m sure this is just me, but the numerous celebrity cameos took me out of the film a little. They were all amazing performances, but that’s my problem – these Oscar winning actors were only given a few minutes of screen time each. I wanted so much more from them!

That’s it really. Oppenheimer feels like Nolan’s most flawless film, as even the aforementioned gripes feel tame in comparison to genuine problems.

Fun

It’s all well and good if your film is technically perfect, but is it a fun viewing for the average movie goer?

The length will certainly put a few off, but I had a blast (pun intended) with Oppenheimer. The celebrity cameos, engaging performances and direction / editing / cinematography made even the dullest scenes enjoyable. And that Trinity Test was the best scene all year!

It’s not a perfect ten (due to reasons I mentioned in my “Not-So-Good” section), but let me put it this way – over three hours, I didn’t dare leave my seat to go to the toilet once!

SCORE: 9/10

Verdict

Oppenheimer has lived up to the hype. If you’re willing to look past the meaty run-time and moderately slow third act, this is a film that will go down as the best of the year, and easily one of the best of the decade.

FINAL SCORE: 9.5/10

PROS	CONS
+ Powerhouse Acting Performances	– Slow Third Act
+ Nolan’s Direction & Script Are Masterful	– Confusing Political Storytelling At Times
+ The Trinity Test!	– Some Characters Felt Underutilised

Aaaaand that’s my review! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: