Boldly crafted and brilliantly executed, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is thrilling, visually spectacular, terrifying, and alarmingly relevant.
Overall Score: 10/10
Image: Universal Pictures
Let’s get straight to the point: Oppenheimer is an absolute masterpiece. In fact, it may just be Christopher Nolan’s best film yet.
Yes, yes, I know. For a director of Nolan’s caliber whose filmography already consists of staggering cinematic achievements like Inception, Dunkirk, and The Dark Knight trilogy, such statements (especially the latter one) may seem a little hyperbolic. But really, I’m not lying when I say that his latest offering trumps most of what he’s come out with before. While Nolan’s movies are known for being intense, complex, and thought-provoking, few are as relevant and as terrifying as Oppenheimer.
Let’s start with the direction. Biopics aren’t usually this exciting, but from beginning to end, Nolan ensures that Oppenheimer runs at a quick and smooth pace. And all throughout, he effectively combines striking visuals, brilliant performances, perfectly-timed edits, ever-crescendoing music, and a sense of urgency to create what can only be described as the most engrossing and thrilling of viewing experiences.
Nolan’s screenplay is also impressively dense and intricately layered. Sure, it can be a bit dialogue-heavy, but as long as you pay close attention, it should prove relatively easy to follow and understand. Furthermore, Nolan manages to do the impossible by masterfully weaving together different perspectives and, within the context of the film, the past and the present to tell a single and cohesive story.
On a technical level, Oppenheimer is another win for Nolan as well. His insistence on using practical effects really pays off here (and pairs nicely with his habit of shooting with IMAX cameras) as it allows for a realistic and appropriately alarming demonstration of the true destructive nature of the atomic bomb. Also, the sound design and cinematography here are superb, and together, both do a fantastic job of effectively pulling you into the world that’s presented on-screen.
Oppenheimer’s score is outstanding too. Composer Ludwig Göransson’s compositions are tense and pulsating, and yet, they’re beautiful and emotional when they need to be. They enrich every part of what is already a thoroughly engrossing film, and quite satisfyingly, they seize you and your attention from the very start and, until the very end, refuse to let go. This is easily Göransson’s best score since his Oscar-winning contribution to 2018’s Black Panther, and along with Daniel Pemberton’s equally phenomenal work for this year’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it’ll likely compete for (and maybe even win) the highly coveted Academy Award for Best Original Score come awards season.
Additionally, Oppenheimer features multiple memorable and terrific performances. Front and center, of course, is Cillian Murphy, who finally gets to play the lead in a Christopher Nolan movie — and boy, does he make the most of that opportunity. Murphy perfectly portrays J. Robert Oppenheimer and deftly balances the man’s many contradicting qualities: brilliance, charisma, strong determination, arrogance, self-indulgence, naivety, etc. Furthermore, through his haunting stares and heavy breathing alone, he skillfully conveys Oppenheimer’s slow but gradual realization of the danger and horrors that can result from the use and existence of nuclear weapons.
Every other member of the film’s ensemble cast also brings their A-game. For example, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, and Kenneth Branagh all play their respective characters exceptionally. However, if you ask me (or just about anyone, for that matter), I’d say that we should all be able to agree that Robert Downey Jr. is the true standout and that, apart from Cillian Murphy, he outshines everyone else. Giving one of his best performances to date, Downey completely disappears into the role of Lewis Strauss, Oppenheimer’s rival. It’s a reminder that he’s so much more than just Marvel’s Tony Stark/Iron Man, and believe me, it’ll make you see just how talented and versatile an actor he truly is.
But ultimately, the most impressive and crucial thing about Oppenheimer is its relevance. “They won’t fear it until they understand it. And they won’t understand it until they’ve used it.” Leaving my showing of the film, I found that I was carefully pondering the significance of this specific quote. Why? Simple: We humans are often reckless when dealing with new and potentially dangerous things, and only after being confronted with the consequences of our actions do we panic and scramble to find a way to save ourselves.
And that’s precisely why Oppenheimer’s release couldn’t have been timelier. It reminds us that even today, especially amidst ever-growing global political tensions, full-on nuclear war is still very much a possibility and a serious potential threat. And on top of that, it also serves as a warning against the rapid and often out-of-control development of new technologies — namely, AI.
Much in the same way — as detailed thoroughly by the movie — that Oppenheimer, "father of the atomic bomb,” tried to push for international cooperation and warn his government of a potential nuclear arms race and nuclear proliferation, the creators of modern AI have come out to plead with the world for proper controls and regulations to be implemented to avoid what they’ve described as a “risk of extinction.” The resemblance between these two situations is both striking and alarming, and ultimately, how things play out will come down to a single decision that we, as a species, must make: Are we going to allow history to repeat itself? Or, for once, will we act fast and do what is right?
To sum up, Oppenheimer is, in every sense of the word, a masterpiece. Boldly crafted and brilliantly executed, it might just be Christopher Nolan’s best film to date, and it’ll undoubtedly (and deservedly) go on to win many different awards. It’s a movie that acknowledges and embraces its story’s historical significance, and just as importantly, it asks us to think carefully about the consequences of our actions and inventions. Ongoing technological and scientific evolution often can and should be considered a good thing, but as Oppenheimer reminds us, sometimes, what initially seems marvelous and miraculous can later prove equally deadly and catastrophic.
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