Posted by Lots of talking and time jumps over intense music.
Well, I picked my side. Sorry Barbie fans, I went in the direction of Oppenheimer. Maybe one day I’ll go back and watch Barbie, but I have no regrets in my choice… I think… Maybe Barbie is still showing in cinemas? Where’s my pink outfit?
I always thought of myself as a Christopher Nolan fan, but it occurred to me that I’ve only ever watched his Batman movies in the cinema and none of the others. A pretty dire stat. Either way, this is as Nolany as a Nolan film can get. It has it all. Time jumps, loud music, lots of dialogue.
It’s quite a heavy movie, one I didn’t expect to have me in tears, but I’m not surprised it brought me to tears either. Humans are vile creatures. The destruction we bring to the world ultimately makes us the villains of this beautiful planet we live on. And that saddens me for what the future holds for us.
Maybe it’s time we handed the planet over to the apes?
It’s no surprise the scene of the movie is when Oppenheimer and his team celebrate victory of the bomb hitting Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Only for Oppenheimer to realise the severity of his genius. Cillian Murphy deserves an Oscar for that performance. Some argue the movie doesn’t cover the detriment to Japan in enough detail, but I think it was the right move – instead focusing on the different state of minds of the people behind the bomb – from Oppenheimer to the President.
Japan is a beautiful country. Mrs Oddfather and I spend a few weeks travelling around Japan before the OddDaughter arrived. Nothing can prepare you for seeing the state of Hiroshima and reading the stories behind that fateful day in history.
As mentioned, this is a very Nolany movie. For good and for bad. I spent the first hour of the movie trying to piece together the time jumps and trying to work out what was happening, where in time I was etc. Yes, it pays off at the end, but I wonder if the time jumps were necessary or if it was just done as it’s a Nolan trademark. And speaking of Nolan trademarks – I wasn’t a fan of the constant intense music in the background. It just made the dialogue difficult to hear and digest. For all of Nolan’s strengths, I find his sound editing isn’t so great.
Though the silence involved in the drop of the test bomb served as a nice touch of contrast, if not slightly cliched. I saw it coming a while before the scene occurred.
Don’t get me wrong, Oppenheimer is a terrific movie. But you can read other reviews to hear that. I’m just here to ramble.
My biggest gripe in this movie? Emily Blunt. Any regular readers will know I am obsessed admire Emily Blunt. Ever since I caught her in Edge of Tomorrow, she always has a space in my heart. Don’t worry, Mrs OddFather is completely aware – her obsession is with the guy that plays Angel in er… Angel. Oh, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’ve never gotten into it, but what kind of name is Buffy anyway? Goddammit, I digress. So yeah, Emily Blunt – my adulthood sweetheart – what have you done with your cheeks (the face kind)? I don’t know if it’s make-up, or plastic surgery, or something she’s done specifically for this movie – but she just looks different to me. I’m not here to judge or anything, each person to their own, but I just feel like I don’t know her anymore. Is it that she’s just aged? How could she do this to me? We could have had something special. Now she’s just a memory of better times. *sobs*
I guess all there is to do now for me is to move on and find a new person I am obsessed with admire. Someone younger. Not unlike what Leonardo Dicaprio does with his women when they hit 25 years of age.
Don’t really know where to go next in this review other than to wrap it up!
Verdict
Oppenheimer is a masterpiece of a movie. However, it’s Christopher Nolan’s trademark elements that stop it from being perfect in my opinion.