Between the Dark Knight trilogy, and original movies like Inception, Interstellar and his last movie, Tenet, Christopher Nolan has built a solid reputation for himself as a filmmaker audiences love to follow. The writer/director’s latest achievement is a book-to-screen adaptation of the biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, also known as the “father of the atomic bomb” and his story in concert with the creation of nuclear weapons. Ahead of Oppenheimer’s big summer release next week, the first reactions for Oppenheimer have rolled in.
The movie has been highly-anticipated for a while, between Oppenheimer’s stacked cast led by Cillian Murphy as the titular character, but tons of big names are part of Christopher Nolan’s latest including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh and so forth. Let’s start this round up with CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell, who had this to say on Twitter about Nolan’s latest:
I think #Oppenheimer is Nolan’s JFK. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE JFK. Cillian Murphy mesmerizes in a star-studded moral quandary about Scientific Theory becoming deadly fact. The entire cast is outstanding, and while the history is DENSE, it’s Nolan’s most streamlined and accessible. pic.twitter.com/S8B2wAgzEbJuly 11, 2023
O’Connell compared Oppenheimer to Oliver Stone’s 1991 film, JFK, which told the story of the investigation of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. He really dug it, pointing out the many strong performances in the movie before sharing how while the movie is “dense” with history, it’s also Nolan’s most “accessible” yet. O’Connell’s ReelBlend podcast co-host Jake Hamilton also had good things to say about the upcoming movie
My favorite Nolan scene ever is the interrogation scene from THE DARK KNIGHT.To that point: OPPENHEIMER is a reminder that even if you strip away spectacle — spinning hallways, backward fights — he’s a masterful story teller who can make even small moments feel thrilling. pic.twitter.com/SjSoAZIGfyJuly 11, 2023
Oppenheimer sounds different than one’s typical Nolan movie because it’s not attached to some massive high concept like Batman, reaching into one’s dreams, being a world-class magician or turning time. It sounds more likened to 2017’s Dunkirk, which was a historical war film that depicted a historical event in the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II. As we continue with the first reactions, Total Film’s Matt Maytum was absolutely “stunned” by the movie:
#Oppenheimer left me stunned: a character study on the grandest scale, with a sublime central performance by Cillian Murphy. An epic historical drama but with a distinctly Nolan sensibility: the tension, structure, sense of scale, startling sound design, remarkable visuals. WowJuly 11, 2023
Sounds like Oppenheimer could be the whole package. Take a look at The Sunday Times’ Jonathan Dean’s thoughts as well, who loved the movie too despite it being very doom and gloom, apparently…
The downside? The women are badly served - Emily Blunt only once gets out of her stressed mother role. But it’s straight into my Nolan top three, alongside Memento & The PrestigeJuly 11, 2023
Now, Dean did have a gripe when it comes to how the female characters are portrayed in Oppenheimer, but all in all, he actually would place the movie in his top three from the director. AP’s Lindsey Bahr called the movie a “spectacular achievement” in filmmaking after seeing it in 70mm IMAX. Check out her thoughts:
Christopher Nolan’s #Oppenheimer is truly a spectacular achievement, in its truthful, concise adaptation, inventive storytelling and nuanced performances from Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon and the many, many others involved —- some just for a scene.July 11, 2023
There’s not much on the negative side being said so far as the first reactions for Oppenheimer roll in. There’s been a lot of buzz around Nolan’s new movie opening on the same day as Barbie and it sounds like this popular double feature, deemed Barbieheimer will definitely be night and day from each other. Here’s another reaction:
OPPENHEIMER is...incredible. The word that keeps coming to mind is "fearsome." A relentlessly paced, insanely detailed, intricate historical drama that builds and builds and builds until Nolan brings the hammer down in the most astonishing, shattering way.July 11, 2023
That’s a lot of good buzz surrounding Oppenheimer! We’ve heard Nolan liken it to a horror movie, and it sounds like as the filmmaker explores the important moment in history, we’ll all be shaking in our boots thinking about the pitfalls of mankind as we get chills about his filmmaking. You can see the movie in theaters on July 21.
