from the brilliant mind that gave us great films such as the Dark Knight
trilogy one of my favorite acts and science fiction films and Inception and the single
greatest science fiction family and drama of all time and Interstellar we got the return
of Christopher Nolan giving us his very first biographical drama focusing on one of the most
important people in human history now the question is is Christopher Nolan delivered
the goods or does he drop the ball we'll be discussing that and much more foreign
what's going on movie fans and welcome back to my channel Elliot back again with a brand new review
and today we're discussing the new Christopher Nolan biographical epic Drama by the name of
Oppenheimer now I got a chance to see this last night and if you saw my automated reaction or if
you follow me on social media I had a lot to say about the film and today we're breaking it all
down in my spoiler-free review but first I want to talk to you on the comments let me know if you
were looking forward to seeing this movie and once you've seen it let's not just talk about
the pros and the cons but let's have a deeper discussion about the cinematography the score
the direction the performances what stood out to you in the story what were some things that didn't
work for you in the story and if you are a fan of Christopher Nolan like I am where does Oppenheimer
land is it top three top five is it at the bottom of this filmography let's talk about all that
in the comments below so speaking of Christopher Nolan let's kick things off by talking about how I
feel like this is a cinematic achievement this to me is filmmaking at its absolute finest in what I
believe to be Christopher Nolan's best work today Oppenheimer is unlike anything Christopher Nolan
has done before and I would argue that this is not only his most experimental film to date but also
his most character driven film he has a very clear Vision that is laser focused on one thing and that
is telling this very complex and then story surrounding one of the most important people
in human history now at this point of his career I don't think he has anything to prove like I think
Christopher Nolan is one of the best filmmakers in history if you ask me but that doesn't stop
him from redefining what he's capable of doing and he proves in his film that his greatness is ever
growing Nolan's work in this film is remarkable like I am just impressed by what he was able to
accomplish but speaking of impressed I want to talk about the incredible work in creating
this film from a visual and sound perspective Hoyt van houtima is one of my favorite Cinema
photographers and his extraordinary ability to crafting shots and making you feel a part of the
scenes is unmatched now when it comes to his work in Oppenheimer there are just some scenes in this
film that I feel like are the best frames you'll see all year and when it comes to showcasing the
devastating creation of the bomb there are moments that I feel like it was just mesmerizing it was
things that were terrifying to look at that were horrifying to look at but they were just
all just captured in such a beautiful way now Switching gears and talking about the sound of
the film and transitioning to the composer which is Led with gordson he is operating at a level
in which I know he's chasing Perfection with every opportunity he gets to work Christopher
Nolan and he has not yet to disappoint this score is massive it is bombastic it is poetic
it is powerful it is emotionally moving the use of the violins is so genius to me in this score
and the reason I say that is because there is attention to the sound that pairs perfectly
with the intellect of Robert Oppenheimer but all also the emotional depths of the character like
the sound of this film is groundbreaking and I'm a fan of scores I love Christopher Nolan scores and
you know I'm thinking about tenant last year or a couple years ago was fantastic about legwood I
think of the motifs from Hans Zimmer in the Dark Knight trilogy and my favorite score of all time
comes from Interstellar Hans Zimmer stay is my favorite score ever but when it comes to this
movie and focusing on the main score that we get with Oppenheimer it is so fantastic when we get
those most heightened moments those key moments in the film not kidding you all when I say this
it was almost like an out-of-body experience when we got certain moments in this film because the
score was just so perfect to me it is masterful work by ledward gorson but also props in the
entire team and the crew that put this movie together whether it be hair and makeup the set
designers the extra seriously everyone involved deserves praise but speaking of Praise let's talk
about these incredible performances and I could spend an hour discussing each character's impact
no matter their screen time but just know that every actor seem to understand what Christopher
Nolan was going for but also understood how much Killian Murphy was required to do in his role and
you feel like they were there to support him and they felt that responsibility in supporting him
and when I'm talking about these performances y'all like The Supporting Cast all delivered
just like really great performances whether it be mini safty Josh Hartnett Tom Conte as Einstein
and there's just so many countless other Great Performances that were just incredible but folks
in a little bit on some of the key players for example we have Matt Damon who plays Leslie Groves
who is the army engineer who was responsible for directing the Manhattan Project what I love about
Matt Damon's performances this is It's balance he has that authoritative role but also there
are moments of respect between him and Oppenheimer but speaking of respect y'all put some respect on
Robert Downey Junior's name because I don't say this in the slide but I know for a younger a lot
of people think of him as just Iron Man Tony Stark right which I know actors would probably love to
be known as one you know iconic World throughout their career and he's great as Iron Man don't get
me wrong but I like to remind people that before Iron Man he was a talented individual and in this
film he showcases what gives him that talent and why he is a generational Talent he is fantastic in
this film as he plays Louis Strauss who was a part of the aec and played a very important role in the
development of the atomic weapon but also had a very important relationship with Oppenheimer that
carries a lot of weight to the film so I wouldn't be surprised if we hear Robert down Jr's name
come up when it comes to Best Supporting lead in a film but I wouldn't be shocked if he won the award
he is that damn good in this movie but speaking of that damn good let's talk about the women in
oppenheimer's life two pivotal women one is Gene tatlock who is played beautifully by Florence Pugh
and the other is Kat Catherine Oppenheimer played by the incredible Emily Blunt they are absolutely
brilliant incredible but also very impressive performance by both actors Florence Pugh shares
more of the intimate moments with Oppenheimer showing that more vulnerable side to him and
then Emily Blunt plays his wife which shows the more Family Man another interesting side of the
character so great performances by those two but I've been saying Oppenheimer a lot but it is time
to shine a light on Killian Murphy's performance as Oppenheimer Oppenheimer is easily one of
the most iconic figures in the 20th century and Killian Murphy plays him brilliantly oppenheimer's
story changed the world by his creation and Killian Murphy gives us a beautiful unique but
also buoyant performance as he perfectly captures The Genius of Oppenheimer but also guides us into
the Terrors that were filled in his mind after knowing this creation would change the nuclear
landscape forever now to me I compared this film to a landmine right where if you have one misstep
it can miss guide you off this Trail but as Killian Murphy's performance that guides you
through his Sublime performance and takes you through this very layered and complex
extremely complex life no doubt in my mind that we're looking at the front runner for best lead
performance of the film Killian Murphy gives a lifetime performance that was absolutely fantastic
so a couple key moments before we get into some of my criticisms that I want to bring up here one of
them being I found the story to be so interesting because it is a very non-linear story as we know
from Christopher Nolan and it could be difficult at times that we'll talk a little bit about later
but I was still so enamored with the scientific elements I'm not really into politics and films
but I've found that element to be interesting and there's a courtroom drama that had elements of a
Few Good Men that I found to be fascinating there are just so many great elements about this film
The pacing it didn't make it feel like it was a three hour movie now when it comes to the tension
in the building of the creation of the trinity it was so intense and has such a haunting yet
powerful and moving effect when you see the actual testing of the bomb and also the nightmarish
scenes when Oppenheimer learns what he's possibly created is a world Destroyer was so effective now
one more two more things I want to mention here in regards to like scenes that really sell out
to me there are so many great scenes within this narrative but a couple that stand out one of them
was there's a particular moment that we see after three years of all their hard work and
they actually test the bomb incredible scene but then speaking of incredible when we see the after
effects of what the Trinity was capable of and dropping in Japan it is truly devastating it had
me almost getting super emotional just thinking of the real life situation at hand but when we
have a scene with Oppenheimer he's addressing the sciences and addressing the families of
the sciences that are at the Manhattan location he's talking to them and he's having a nightmare
he's have there's a scene this film where he sees the effects of the atomic bomb in the room that
he's in literally a perfect scene so man I can go on and on and on about the positives but I want to
Pivot over and talk about my criticisms now I'm not gonna lie it took me a minute now again it's
Christopher Nolan non-linear storytelling I'm very used to it but when it comes to this film
it did take me a minute to get used to all the stuff that we were being thrown at I mean we're
bouncing from Oppenheimer in his days in college him falling in love him being recruited there's a
lot being thrown at you and for me it was a little bit overwhelming now it eventually found some good
pacing and you get settled into the story but for me the first initial 15-20 minutes was very
overwhelming pivoting over some other things that didn't work for me I praise Christopher
Nolan's script because I thought it was great but there are moments that the dialogue almost felt
too polished it almost seemed too perfect what I mean by that is if you have seen a Aaron sorkin's
film and a film that he writ It Was Written he's a great writer but a lot of his movies everyone is
like on the 11. everyone is the smartest person in the world and now keep in mind as I'm referring to
Oppenheimer of course we're dealing with these most intelligent scientists has ever walked
on Earth so I get the intellects going to be on another level but sometimes it just feels like it
wasn't as authentic in like natural conversations like everyone's saying these thought-provoking
profound things without really kind of taking in the gravity of what they're saying so again it
felt almost too polished and if you kind of know what I mean and if you see the film you know what
I'm talking about or you might not but last point I want to mention as far as my criticisms go to
me there is a little bit of me issue and also a story issue now addressing the me of it all I'm
not a historian I'm sure not a scientist and I'm not a politician when I say that I'm going into
the facts that we have a lot of terminologies a lot of jargon a lot of you know things being said
that kind of went over my head now some of it made sense but some of it didn't now that boils me down
bring it to the film of it all again it's science it's politicians we have a lot of political things
going on I felt the film could have did a little bit of a better job of explaining certain elements
of the movie again some of you all might disagree that our maybe scientists or politicians or what
have you but I feel like the film could have did a little bit better job of making things be spoken
in layman terms some of y'all in the comments like you idiot you didn't get it but no it's just not
throughout the entire film but there are moments where I feel like man this is going over my head
but I will say it's the performances and the way that I was able to okay I understand what they're
saying not fully but I can I can grasp on the idea what they're getting at so those that's something
I want to bring up but one last final point now I felt like after the creation of the Trinity
and the effects of the Trinity that is the climax of the movie to me but then there's like another
30 to 45 minutes to the film probably close to 40 minutes from being honest and the last 40 minutes
is like a courtroom drama we're dealing with the Cold War we have a trial or they don't call it
a trial but we have these these legal proceedings going on with Oppenheimer people trying to get him
out of the science Industries treat people trying to tear him down take away his legacy in his name
the scenes were great because there's some great acting going on there's some great stuff going on
but again 30 40 minutes prior to that I feel like that was the climax and it's kind of like we're
coming down from that high momentum so again nothing wrong with those scenes it just didn't
hit the same high notes for me as we got with the bomb how it was used the after effects of that so
one more thing I will mention though before we wrap up speaking of the ending and I Won't Give
It Away obviously it's a true story but I won't give away the actual ending but I will say the
last scene is haunting I want to prepare you all because it kind of gives you an idea of the future
and it does not look bright I'll just say that so I will prepare you all it's an ending that's going
to stick with you because it definitely stuck with me so those are my main Pros those are my
main cons before we wrap this thing up I want to thank you all for sticking on to this point of
review if you are still here and if you enjoyed what I had to say so far consider hitting that
like button sharing today's review leaving your thoughts in the comments and of course consider
subscribing to the channel overall this is Nolan's most ambitious movie to date and he delivers his
best work to date it's an experimental film that pays off tenfold its gut-wriching story that takes
a deep dive into the depths of power and with that power can do to a person it's massively shot it's
beautifully scored the performances by the entire cast were excellent led by Killian Murphy and
Robert Downey Jr this film will be discussed by many people many decades from now and deservedly
so because this is a cinematic achievement I'm gonna give Oppenheimer a 5 out of five now look
I am very aware that some people will not enjoy the long run time some people will not enjoy the
story and a lot of the different story plots that we get and I get all that right but for
me it's the technical side of this film it's a direction it's the performances it's the lasting
effect of the story and that is the reason why I am giving it that Five Star Treatment because it
really worked for me but again that's just me but now I want to talk to you all at home let me know
in the comments what worked what didn't work where does this fall on Christopher Nola's filmography
I'm gonna probably make a Youtube short in a couple days giving you all my rankings of
all his movies but let's just say that five out of five treatment there's only three films that
I gave five out of five in his filmography and this is definitely top tier for me so it is one
of my favorite films so far this year but again I want to know your thoughts in the comments I want
to thank you all for supporting today's video If you enjoyed it before we wrap this thing
up like I said hit the like share comment below consider subscribing to the channel you all have
been awesome hope you're staying safe as you can see on the screen check out my other reviews I've
done so far this year check out my most recent review and I'll catch you all on the next video