Oppenheimer
I saw this on Sunday in an IMAX cinema, which I only realized after I made the booking was the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing (the 6th of August).
There is an enormous amount of interest in this film, which is not really explained by the subject matter, I don't think. Perhaps it is due to the fact that it is directed by Christopher Nolan (
Interstellar, Dunkirk, Inception, Tenet, the Christopher Bale
Batman trilogy).
This movie suffers from a lot of peculiar
avant-garde artistic choices made by Nolan, with many dialogue scenes accompanied by extremely loud sound effects perhaps intended as symbolic of Oppenheimer's inner conflict, or something. There are three gratuitous sex scenes, with one that is particularly jarring which occurs in the imagination of one or more of the characters while Cillian Murphy's Oppenheimer is in the middle of a crowded meeting room for a security hearing. This seems to be a novel feature for a Christopher Nolan film. (Do any of his previous films feature sex scenes? Not that I can recall, although I haven't seen
Tenet or
Dunkirk.)
Other reviewers, even in the lay press, have remarked that the film's discussion of science is facile, which it is. The movie talks a lot obliquely about Oppenheimer's work with quantum mechanics, although the only specific scientific contribution of his that it mentions is his work on black holes, which was not in quantum mechanics. At some points it shows him presumably contemplating scientific questions, but this is represented as cuts to an abstract light show with, again, jarringly loud sound effects. Oppenheimer travels widely to meet other scientific luminaries, or they travel to him, merely for them to utter a sentence to one another, but this film revels in the superficial.
The dialogue is often difficult to follow, as the actors frequently give a mumbled delivery, and there is another odd choice to have loud background music playing over several dialogue scenes. Many viewers have criticized this and other of Nolan's films for the lack of clarity of dialogue, but Nolan is dismissive of audience concerns.
The narrative flow is also confusing, with it jumping back and forth between different points in Oppenheimer's life (wartime, pre-war, and several points post-war), with "flash-forwards" in black-and-white.
On the positive side, I was not bored, despite its more than three-hour runtime, and I enjoyed watching a film on the IMAX screen that was created for the medium. It is part of the cultural zeitgeist at the moment, so I do not regret going to watch it.
5/10
an amazing thrill ride from begining to end a tight plot believable CGI. And solid acting! My family loved it I loved it. Ian's friends all loved it. It's not "gone with the wind " but I am happy with the movie.
this movie only is in 2 theaters. We arrived to a space crowd. And saw .nothing. It's not scary. It's not funny. It's like being on the Disney ride. Ahh yes the typical recent woke message from Disney is here but subdued
video game movies as a rule suck. But at last we have one that is awesome! Every trope in Mario is plumed. Donkey Kong check!
