Hey yall!
So we did it. Barbenhiemer double feature As I stated in my previous post:
https://lemmy.world/post/1887202
Oppenheimer review:
Overall I recommended people go see it in theaters, Preferably in IMAX.
The film tells Oppenheimer's story well and conveys the complexity of Oppenheimer and the nuance of the situations that he was in. All of the performances where spectacular from a star studded cast. Its emotional, informative and visually pleasing. Go see it.
That being said: I ultimately found the film to be pretentious, tedious and kinda hard to sit through to the end. Many stylistic choices by Nolan get in the way of the films entertainment value.
SPOILERSZZZZZZZZZZZ BELOW
Some stylistic choices by nolan that I didn't like:
1.)The entire movie is scene after scene of random jumps in time. There is almost zero contexts given for each scene. No year, or location is stated when scenes change. And the film takes place over 4 different time periods. Scenes just start up mid conversation: Oppenheimer in an office talking with some famous physicist for a 15 word conversation before another sharp cut to a different scene doing basically the same thing...... For 3hrs.
While i feel this is purposeful by Nolan, maybe to prevent taking too much creative license with the story? Not sure, but it makes the film very confusing. There is such little effort made to explain the settings of each scene. Im glad I knew my history to fill in the gaps.
2.) Typical of a Nolan film: Its way too loud and too quite. The audio of explosions and visualization, shakes the whole theater while some fellow viewers cover their ears. Then the next scene, which is sharply cut from the previous one, is DEAD silent. Often followed by short whispered dialog. I couldn't hear half of what was said.
3.) Maybe most frustrating thing: Nolan didn't use cgi for the trinity test explosion.
Much of the movie builds to the Trinity test. Its the longest scene in the movie. The build up was emersive and exhilarating. Its honestly a incredible scene, until the explosion.
Unless you have lived under rock for the past 80+ years, you have probably seen the original footage of the trinity test. The real life footage is awe inspiring. Its surprisingly clear and detailed and shows the fury and scale of the first nuclear bomb. It's mesmerizing and terrifying.
Christopher Nolan seems to think he can do a better job of creating an explosion than the real Oppenheimer and a real nuke. He's wrong. The explosion during the Trinity test scene is severely underwhelming. So muxh so, It broke me out of the film. :(
Mission accomplished Mr.Nolan. Its painfully obvious you're not using CGI. PS. If I wanted to watch movies made with 1930s tech, ill hit up turner classic.
I was so excited for this scene. Maybe its my fault for trying to enjoy Nolan's recent films, instead of collapsing under the weight of the importance of the story.
Why he would choose to go this path can be nothing but pompousness. Like honestly, how are you going to make a 3rh movie about creating the atomic bomb, and then skimp on trinity test? Thumbs down Mr. Nolan.
Nolan is well on his way to become one of the legendary directors. Complete with a string of long "Epic" films I wouldn't watch a 2nd time.
stay tuned for the Barbie review coming soon!
The movie's nonlinear story telling is the worst part of the film. Oppenheimer's security clearance hearing was a good place to anchor the movie, but it did not even attempt to set up its antagonist until the last quarter of the movie. Why should it have been a ah-ha moment that Strauss was against Oppenheimer. A better editor would have more effectively placed all of the scenes into a coherent narrative.
The sex scene was just bad. "Christopher, how do intelligent people have sex?" "Well, they can only be aroused by reading ancient languages that foreshadow their grandiose future achievements."
When Oppenheimer, allegedly poisoned Blackett's apple, it should have been a scene about his mental health issues at the time. Rather than a completely fabricated suspense scene. People who were aware of the incident questioned if it ever really happened. It would have been more impactful to have a scene where Oppenheimer meets with his analyst from that period. The movie decides to simply say that it happened and for some reason interjected Bohr.
The portrayals of characters was a highlight of the film. Most of the acting was great. It was, however, overly stuffed with high profile actors, which turned the film into a distracting cameo bingo game.
The physical and psychological aftermath of the atomic booms dropping on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not adequately portrayed. It did not show well enough the psychological toll it took on the scientists on the project or portray the horrific physical toll it inflicted on the Japanese people. The slide reel scene not showing a single image of the attack was a poor choice. It demonstrates that Hollywood is completely ok with an R rating for showing nudity, but not for confronting people with the horrors of human cruelty.