Oppenheimer

This movie is just... wow! I don't think I have ever felt like this watching a movie! Its like a blend of being sad but also scared! I read that Christopher Nolan said it kind of had themes of horror, and watching the movie i think I knew what he meant! Very few movies can make you feel quite like this one can!

Nolan once again shows he is an expertly craftsman in filmmaking! This stands as perhaps one of his more humble movies but also one of his greatest! Reminds me of his earlier movies!

The cast is also AMAZING with Cillian Murphy delivering the performance of his carrer as Oppenheimer, esentially becoming him, and pretty much securing himself an Oscar nomination for best lead actor! Robert Downey Junior also gives one of his best performances, reminding us all that despite 10 years as Iron man, he can still act!

The soundtrack, sound and editing is also masterfull and further creates a cinematic experience like no other!

Overall an esential viewing experience about historic events that still remains very relevant to this day! One of my favorite Nolan movies!

I'm still collecting my thoughts after experiencing this film, Cillian Murphy might as well start clearing a space on his mantle for the Best Actor Oscar.

This film is a masterclass in weaving narratives and different time periods while exploring the profound depths of a man whose actions altered the world's trajectory forever, for better or worse. Nolan brings us into the complexities of Oppenheimer, and all the moral conflicts stirring within him.

Murphy's portrayal is so riveting that the long run-time became an afterthought. Robert Downey Jr also offers a great performance and Nolan's push and pull with how he uses sound design throughout is the cherry on top.

Some viewers might need a brief refresher on WWII and Cold War history, but any film lover should be happy to willingly lose themselves in this film for hours on end.

As VFX and special effects take over the traditional filmmaking methods, Nolan is among the remaining few directors who still builds grandiose true-to-life sets and reflects cinematic setpieces by filming them instead of digitising them. Oppenheimer is thus a culmination of Nolan's cinematic genius combined with an incredible story that changed the world in more ways than one. It's incredibly intimate and divisive, with the onus of it's justification being put on the audience instead of the narrator.

The cast is just as incredible as you would expect it to be, and the screenplay flows naturally, with a breathtaking score that justifiably draws parallels from Hans Zimmer's profound work in Interstellar. Nolan balances the intimacy between the characters while simultaneously juxtaposing it with some of the most impactful scenes ever shown on the big screen. The movie's runtime takes it's time in setting up it's pieces, with the finale leaving you utterly spellbound at the sheer magnitude and scale of the events transpiring right in front of your eyes.

Lastly, for those who want their daily dosage of immediate dopamine and faster pacing in the theatre instead of experiencing a meticulously guided journey, you could wait a few more months for yet another copy paste Fast and Furious flick or a Marvel movie laden with green backdrops and fan-service.

Because this isn't a film or a flick, this is Cinema.

I'm a big fan of Nolan's work so was really looking forward to this. I understood there would be some flipping in timelines and I'd need to concentrate. I didn't find this to be a problem at all and the storytelling was beautifully done. The acting was universally excellent. I saw a review saying Emily Blunt was rather OTT but I didn't find that at all.

I think my biggest gripe with the film may mean that I'm just getting old. I found the direction quite jarring with jump cuts galore. While it did keep things moving along apace, it was all rather exhausting. I also found the music and sound very very loud to the point of intrusion. Much like other Nolan films as it goes: Interstellar that I love, also had *very* loud music.

All in all this is a quality watch. It just left me longing for the days when so called 'cerebral' biopics, were a little more tranquil.

You'll have to have your wits about you and your brain fully switched on watching Oppenheimer as it could easily get away from a nonattentive viewer. This is intelligent filmmaking which shows it's audience great respect. It fires dialogue packed with information at a relentless pace and jumps to very different times in Oppenheimer's life continuously through it's 3 hour runtime. There are visual clues to guide the viewer through these times but again you'll have to get to grips with these quite quickly. This relentlessness helps to express the urgency with which the US attacked it's chase for the atomic bomb before Germany could do the same. An absolute career best performance from (the consistenly brilliant) Cillian Murphy anchors the film. This is a nailed on Oscar performance. In fact the whole cast are fantastic (apart maybe for the sometimes overwrought Emily Blunt performance). RDJ is also particularly brilliant in a return to proper acting after his decade or so of calling it in. The screenplay is dense and layered (I'd say it was a thick as a Bible), cinematography is quite stark and spare for the most part but imbued with rich, lucious colour in moments (especially scenes with Florence Pugh), the score is beautiful at times but mostly anxious and oppressive, adding to the relentless pacing. The 3 hour runtime flies by. All in all I found it an intense, taxing but highly rewarding watch. This is film making at it finest. A really great watch.