Time: 180 Minutes
Age Rating: M– Sex scenes, offensive language, nudity & suicide
Cast:
Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer
Emily Blunt as Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer
Matt Damon as Leslie Groves
Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss
Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock
Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence
Casey Affleck as Boris Pash
Rami Malek as David L. Hill
Kenneth Branagh as Niels Bohr
Benny Safdie as Edward Teller
Jason Clarke as Roger Robb
Director: Christopher Nolan

During World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. appoints physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to work on the top-secret Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer and a team of scientists spend years developing and designing the atomic bomb. Their work comes to fruition on July 16, 1945, as they witness the world’s first nuclear explosion, forever changing the course of history.

Christopher Nolan is one of my favourite filmmakers of all time, and his next ambitious project would be a biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the main who created the atomic bomb. It looked to be something really special, especially with the fantastic cast including Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, and Robert Downey Jr. I knew it would be great, but even I didn’t expect it to be this spectacular.

Oppenheimer is a very dense movie; it is full of information and details, with many moving parts and characters to keep track of. There’s an argument to be made that it is Nolan’s most complex movie to date, its at least one of the most complex biopics I’ve seen. There’s so much that happens that I didn’t grasp 100% of the details, but I was still able to follow what was happening. The movie opts for a non-linear narrative instead of telling the events in chronological order, and that worked to great effect. It’s a 3 hour long epic and covers a lot, and while the runtime might be too much for some people, I was invested throughout. It’s dialogue heavy, and the dialogue itself is snappy, poignant and impactful. Even when characters are talking about math or complex scientific subjects, you are able to follow along with what they are saying. I found the story to be captivating, awe inspiring at times, yet haunting by the end. In fact, this might be Nolan’s most emotional movie, up there with Interstellar at least. I was intrigued by the first hour as the narrative establishes J. Robert Oppenheimer, and I was coming to grips with the film’s approach to the story. The movie really takes off when Matt Damon’s Leslie Groves recruits Oppenheimer to direct the Manhattan Project, and it becomes a really interesting journey to follow. From reading some of the other reactions, the last hour is where many people will be divided. It’s largely set after the atomic bomb has been created, and focuses on investigations into Oppenheimer, as well as his growing guilt and regrets; it is what the previous couple of hours had been building to and absolutely delivers on that. The film is a character study about its complicated subject; it captures his life as best as possible, while leaving plenty of room for interpretation.

Thematically there’s a lot happening here. At its core, it is about a man dealing with the moral impacts and consequences of creating something that not only caused so much death in Japan, but would send humanity on a destructive path on which there is no return. On a broader scale, it tackles humanity’s hubris, the consequences of war, and most surprising of all the devastating effects of American imperialism. For the people who wonder if the movie might potentially glorify or justify the creation or use of the bomb, it doesn’t. While some are concerned as to how Christopher Nolan would showcase this, it’s handled very well. It makes the right choice in mostly staying in Oppenheimer’s perspective as he gradually feels the weight of all his decisions, even the small implications are devastating. It is capped off by a truly haunting and harrowing ending.

Nolan’s films generally have large ensembles of great actors, but Oppenheimer’s cast is ridiculously packed and excellent, with everyone on their A game. Cillian Murphy plays J. Robert Oppenheimer, and he is outstanding in this movie. As expected, the whole movie revolves around him, and he does a great job carrying the film. His performance is very complex and layered; you get to see a range of different emotions from him, from excitement at discovering and achieving scientific breakthroughs, to the torment and despair when his creation is unleashed upon the world. He does such an incredible job at conveying Oppenheimer’s feelings with his eyes alone. It’s one of the best performances I’ve seen in recent years, and it’s the best I’ve seen from him. Emily Blunt plays Oppenheimer’s wife, and while she’s relegated to the background most of the time, she gets some moments to truly shine, especially in the last hour. Currently, Florence Pugh’s character is probably my biggest issue in the movie. Her character is complicated and interesting, but we don’t get enough screentime to get some grasp about what her deal is. I understand the movie isn’t about her, but I wish we got a little more. Still, Pugh is great in her small screentime. Matt Damon is also excellent as the general who recruits Oppenheimer for the Manhattan Project. The standout of the supporting cast is Robert Downey Jr. who is truly captivating, believable and tremendous here. He really gets to shine in the third act, and this is one of his all time best performances, his best since Zodiac at least. It would be hard to go through every specific actor in the absurdly large supporting cast. For now, I’ll say that Josh Hartnett, Benny Safdie, Jason Clarke, Alden Ehrenreich, Dane DeHaan and David Krumholtz are some of the other standouts. Even actors who aren’t in the movie much like Rami Malek and Kenneth Branagh make the most of their screentime and make strong impressions.

It’s no surprise that Christopher Nolan’s direction is spectacular, and the movie is yet another technical masterpiece from him. Hoyte van Hoytema’s cinematography is once again stunning; so much of the movie is on a large scale, and everything from the landscapes to the bomb testing is all presented brilliantly. More than anything however, the use of IMAX cameras throughout the whole movie helps to really capture human emotions (mainly Oppenheimer’s), and to create the feeling of claustrophobia. There are also some interesting choices made with the colour; the scenes from Oppenheimer’s subjective perspective are in colour, whereas the scenes from Lewis Strauss’s (Robert Downey Jr.) perspective are in black and white. The editing is on point, with excellent cuts and transitions; it especially shines when conveying Oppenheimer’s headspace. The visual effects are strong, especially with its use of practical effects over CGI. As you’d expect, the sequences of the bomb testing are spectacular to watch, one particular scene is awe inspiring and horrifying all at once. But even the ways the effects are used to show Oppenheimer visualising the science including waves and particles are particularly effective. There are also some moments when he experiences nightmarish visions and moments of anxiety; the imagery combined with the editing leads to some truly affecting and haunting sequences. The sound design is also impeccable, down to the realistic delays in sound when it comes to the explosions. Ever since The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan’s films tend to have issues with dialogue being heard. However, I don’t think Oppenheimer had that problem. Ludwig Göransson’s score is amazing, and I’d argue that it’s a very key part to the movie. Looking back on the movie, its hard to think of many times when the score isn’t being played on some level. It’s gorgeous and epic, going from beauty and wonder, to bone-chilling despair.

Oppenheimer is a phenomenal, riveting and devastating historical epic and character study, with impeccable direction, outstanding storytelling, and a fantastic ensemble cast led by a career best Cillian Murphy. It’s currently my favourite movie of the year, and Christopher Nolan’s best, which is saying a lot considering his rich filmography. I highly recommend checking it out on the biggest screen possible, it is truly tremendous and a strong contender for my favourite film of the current decade.