‘Oppenheimer’ Movie Review: Christopher Nolan’s Epic Drama About Consequences
Photo from Universal Pictures
From Jeff Nelson
Christopher Nolan returns to the silver screen with his first feature film since 2020’s Tenet with Oppenheimer. The biographical drama carries over the filmmaker’s monumental scope, but he brings a more grounded approach to his real-life subject this time around. This is where Nolan’s historical film shines.
Oppenheimer tells the story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), whose theoretical brilliance attracted the attention of his peers around the world. Nolan’s non-linear screenplay leaps between various moments in time to tell the story of how Oppenheimer was recruited to lead the mission to develop a bomb to put an end to World War II and the personal fallout from creating a weapon that changed the world forever.
Oppenheimer sits at the center of a crowded narrative packed with a large cast of supporting characters. He works with fellow bright minds to make the atomic bomb a possibility within a short timeframe, but he’s also forced to enter the world of politics to handle logistics as the face of what the bomb represents for the future. These two contrasting worlds tug him in two opposite directions that possess entirely different intentions.
Nolan consistently emphasizes the horrors of the atomic bomb and the tension in building it on schedule. However, the most significant moments come with the story’s occasional switch to a more casual nature, as characters speak so little of human life while making their decision of which Japanese city they should target with their potentially world-ending technology. The film doesn’t show the horrifying casualties first-hand, yet its impact is still deeply felt.
Kitty (Emily Blunt) and Jean (Florence Pugh) are a couple of the only women with a profound impact on the titular character, ultimately shaping his future. However, they’re drastically underwritten, existing purely as plot devices for Oppenheimer’s emotional turning points. The film also glosses over his respective romances with each of them, providing little investment in these characters.
Oppenheimer booms when it digs into the psychological drama of the story, navigating how the atomic bomb affected its survivors, as well as the creators. Oppenheimer must face the consequences of his actions, scrambling to find a way to cope with the blood on his hands in the present and future. Nolan brings some of his signature thriller elements along for the ride, but there’s no denying that the personal stakes are where the film hits its stride. Unfortunately, it doesn’t remain there for long enough to give the film’s emotional weight much room to breathe.
Murphy has a lengthy filmography packed with strong performances, but he’s absolutely outstanding as Oppenheimer. He plays the role with such precision, typically acting with his eyes to express the character’s crises. Meanwhile, Blunt elevates the role of Kitty, acting as an utter standout every time she’s on the screen. The supporting cast overflows with recognizable talent in small parts, but there’s no questioning that Murphy and Blunt are the superstars here, with the likes of Downey, Matt Damon, Jason Clarke, and Benny Safdie not far behind.
Nolan crafts a technically-absorbing film that only further immerses its audience in its hyped IMAX 70mm presentation. He switches between breathtaking establishing shots in landscapes and closeups that communicate the film’s scale on both micro and macro levels.
Ludwig Göransson’s score is a consistent presence throughout Oppenheimer, surging through nearly every scene. However, its range from wonder to complete horror flawlessly captures the mood Nolan is going for. The impressive sound design plays with silence and bombastic sound in unique ways, all while doing a better job of capturing audibly-coherent dialogue than some of Nolan’s previous films.
Oppenheimer is a striking, yet overlong drama that ultimately delivers on a magnificent ending with a significant payoff. It’s a biopic that is less of a character study than it is a historical analysis of pride, self-pity, and consequences with a perspective on humanity’s unquenchable hunger for power that hits home in contemporary times. It’s a good Nolan film that falls short of greatness.
Rating: 3.5/5
Oppenheimer hits theaters on July 21st, 2023.
