"Oppenheimer" Blows Us Away

First Impressions

The cast alone is enough for you to want to see this film. I also believe that this is probably going to be one of Matt Damon's best performances. Christopher Nolan doesn't miss when it comes to his films. Seeing as this one is about the creation ion the atomic bomb, I can only imagine what kind of spectacle this is going to be, especially when it's filmed with IMAX cameras.

"Oppenheimer" Movie Review (Spoilers)

Okay, before we get into the details of this miraculous piece of mastery, one thing has to be clear. This film was intended to be viewed in 77mm IMAX theaters. The sheer power of this film has to be viewed in its correct format. Of course, IMAX tickets are more expensive but it's well worth it for this one. Okay, let's about the film now.

This 3-hour film packs a lot of info but manages to do it in a way where you're not wondering when the movie is going to end. You're invested from start to finish. Cillian Murphy just does an extraordinary job of portraying Robert Oppenheimer. While there is a lot of physics talk, you aren't left lost. The structure of this film is very similar to The Social Network. The story is told from a "what happened?" point of view while a court case is going on so you have to pay attention as every little detail counts.

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The film starts off with Robert being a teacher in physics. As his teachings makes its way around the world, he's visited by Lt. Leslie Groves Jr (portrayed by Matt Damon) who recruits him to help with a creation of the atomic bomb, titled the Manhattan Project. He gathers his team of scientists and the work begins. You also get a look into his private life which involves a questionable marriage and an affair that makes everything worse. The only significance this brings to the story, is for the court case where his wife finds out about the affair. You could argue that this dilemma has an effect on his project and leads to some drama within his team but I think this part of the story could be removed and nothing from the film would change.

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The film really gets going when the team begins to put together the bomb. This is where the film feels like it just hit the gas pedal and doesn't stop. I mentioned in my "First Impressions" paragraph that this would probably one of the best performances Matt Damon has given in his career and after watching this film, I still stand by that statement. And that's huge coming from him playing Jason Bourne. He's intimidating and believable as a Lieutenant.

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Another great performance is that of Robert Downey Jr. We see him early on in the film and we almost couldn’t recognize him. The makeup department really did an amazing job transforming him into “Lewis Strauss“. His performance is outstanding. As he does with with his other films, he seems to effortlessly grab our attention and hook us into the story immediately. There’s never really any bad things to say about Robert’s performances from a general standpoint but there are some that stand out more than others and this is one of them. If there’s one actor that deserves an Oscar Nomination, it’s him.

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Florence Pugh keeps surprising us in all her different roles she has played ever since we first saw her in the psychological thriller Midsommar. In "Oppenheimer", she plays Oppenheimer's mistress "Jean Tatlock". There's no need to say that she bares all here. When that particular scene came on, I could hear some people in the theatre gasp as none of us were expecting that. But it's a testament to her performance ability to play a mixture of characters and be willing to go to far as she needs to make her character great. We should be seeing her win an Oscar in the near future...maybe not for this film though.

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Emily Blunt also deserves recognition here as she plays Oppenheimer's wife "Kitty Oppenheimer". I'm not sure what it is about Emily's performances, but she always seems to make us feel really bad for her and this is another one of those performances. I'm going to chalk this up as she's an amazing actress (because she is) and not that she's drawing her screen emotion from real life experiences (which is okay to do) but it would be very sad if true. I wouldn't say this is one of her best performances but it deserves a look from the Oscar Panel although I don't think a nomination is in order.

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Now let's talk about explosions for a bit. Christopher Nolan said he wasn't going to use CGI for his explosions and thankfully he didn't. CGI explosions are the worst. No, Chris actually recreated an exact complete replica of the atomic bomb for this film even though the filmmakers said not to do so. The tension in the film is the build of the bomb itself. Knowing that the bomb is exact to the real one puts this film on another level. Every test explosion done is real and in IMAX, you can feel it. You have to put yourself in the mind/eyes of Oppenheimer or his team to really understand just how big of a deal this is. The fact that there was a real possibility and fear that he could've destroyed the world is insane to think of now. The result of everything is breathtaking and on an IMAX screen, that explosion fills it from top to bottom. Did I mention the tension before the bomb? Well, try feeling that same tension just before pushing the red button. Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy do an awesome job of recreating that night when they almost destroyed everything around them. Michael Bay better watch out because Christopher Nolan is knocking on his door.

Final Word

I could go on and on about the film and it's feeling it has on you but you need to experience the film on the biggest screen possible. The acting is so good, you almost forget you're even watching a movie. I wouldn't be surprised if this gets multiple Oscar Nominations and wins. Easily could be Best Picture. There's points in the film where we see random shots of particles and matter and that's to show us what is on Oppenheimer's mind. Just in case you are left wondering what those random scenes are. This is a 3-hour film that you really need to pay attention to or you'll miss key details. So, don't get a massive size drink or you'll be lost. I give this 9.5/10.