Oppenheimer is one of the best films of the year, and one of the best biopics I have watched in recent years. From a technical standpoint, Hoyte van Hoytema's cinematography - captured entirely in IMAX - as well as the sound design is staggering. Ludwig Goransson's score is haunting and tense. There's a score that plays during the Trinity test scene which is one of his best pieces, and one of the most nail-biting sequences of Nolan's career. Outside of its technical brilliance, its the propulsive editing and direction - which makes a 3 hour film fly by - and the star-studded ensemble cast that elevates this film. Cillian Murphy in particular gives an all-time central performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer, and thoroughly deserves all of the inevitable accolades he will receive.
The only elements that didn't entirely work is the romantic subplot which feels brief, and also a couple of important narrative beats that aren't entirely clear because of how quickly the film moves (this may improve on subsequent watches.) Additionally, I thought that the music was a tad overbearing at times, mostly in the quieter character scenes - it's something that other critics of Nolan's films have pointed out but only bothered me in this film. The other complaint I have heard is about the sound mix which, in typical Nolan fashion, frustratingly drowns out dialogue. Luckily, I managed to catch a subtitled screening of the film so was spared of that confusion, but it was a massive complaint I had for 2020's Tenet.
The following thoughts are taken from my Letterboxd review of Oppenheimer:
Oppenheimer opens and closes with a shot of ripples in a pond. It's a haunting comparison to the wave of destruction from the atomic bomb, but seen from a god's eye point of view. This is a story simultaneously about men playing with their toys, flippantly pushing them further and further with little thought about the morals of their actions, but also about men playing god a la Prometheus giving fire to humanity in an act of benevolent destruction.
There's a really interesting dichotomy between this snapshot in history where politics, the Red Scare, personal relationships, egos and logistics clashes with the moral weight of the repercussions of this moment on the rest of humanity for the rest of time.
On the surface, this is a typical biopic where a brilliant genius has to invent something against all odds to save the day - think The Imitation Game. Except the crucial difference is that the movie, from the very beginning, knows that the final success is not a true saviour but a 'bad miracle' (to quote last year's Nope). There's an anticipation but also a dread about reaching Oppenheimer's inevitable success, making this biopic every bit as existential as high concept movies like Everything Everywhere and Interstellar.
There's also a frequent juxtaposition between the way Oppenheimer's team flippantly treats the enormity of their venture compared to the audience's understanding of the horror of it - there's arrogance to how some of the characters trivialise the horror of what they're doing but is it because they're inherently callous, or is it because it's the only way they can cope with comprehending the terrible power they've unleashed upon the world?
It's a weight that is concentrated to fall almost entirely on the shoulders of the character of Oppenheimer, growing heavier and heavier throughout the movie....another Greek mythology comparison here with Atlas holding up the entire weight of the sky.
But at the end of the day, the only way for Oppenheimer to cope with it is to view his actions like ripples in a pond, small and insignificant compared to everything else to come.