Barbenheimer — Review Thread

Nah, Oppenheimer gets priority, not Barbie.

When it was announced in the mid-2010s that Christopher Nolan would be developing a WWII movie based on the Dunkirk evacuations, I remember thinking it sounded like a safer prestige picture and a chance to try his hand at something a bit more conventional. Little did I know Dunkirk would be such a consolidation of the director's major themes and stylistic choices, a pressure-cooker of high-tension whose non-linear narrative not only increased that tension exponentially, but also reinterpreted events to emphasize the causal relationships between its three perspectives rather than the little flow of time. Rather than tempering his own sensibilities to make a studio movie, Nolan enlisted the resources of the studio to enhance and expand his vision. And he has done it again with Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer is a biopic specifically concerned with J. Robert Oppenheimer's development as a quantum physicist, culminating with the creation of the Atomic Bomb and the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The plot is also contextualized by two frame narratives which themselves collide, Oppenheimer's hearing in 1954 regarding potential security risks due to past communist ties, and another hearing for Lewis Strauss, a former colleague and eventual enemy of Oppenheimer. It is a three-hour film largely consisting of conversations about science and politics and its the most pulse-pounding cinematic experience of the summer. Nolan's sense of spectacle is not absent amidst presumably dry material, it hypercharges it, scientific discovery and political deceit presented through Oppenheimer's visions of apocalyptic terror and the chasm of guilt regret that causes physical space to distort. To that end, this is most certainly the closest Nolan's visuals have ever come to surreal. Ghostly visions appear occasionally in the likes of Insomnia and The Dark Knight Rises, but Oppenheimer goes much further, as timelines blur and visions become indistinguishable from reality.

For all the propulsive power that drives Oppenheimer - both the man and the film as a whole - the non-linear structure adds a haunting quality to the proceedings. Oppenheimer's development and progress on the Manhattan project are always counter-pointed by the frame story, as Oppenheimer is grilled by hawkish generals and politicians who loved the bomb but aren't crazy about the unionization talk or efforts to reduce H-bomb production. In these scenes we see glimpses of a far different Robert Oppenheimer, one haunted by sorrow and guilt. These feelings are at first merely implied by Cillian Murphy's hollowed face and sunken eyes, but they become much more pronounced as both Oppenheimer's hearing and the Manhattan project concurrently move closer to their climaxes. The result is a structure which rather brilliantly quells Oppenheimer's triumphs. All the excitement from scientific discovery or putting a team together and problem solving is levied by the weight of the grim future. A common logline to justify the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is that they were necessary to end the war, that the end justified the means. Nolan's structure dismantles that notion, not merely because of the inhumane violence inherent to the nuclear attacks against Japan, but in demonstrating how "the end" goes well past World War II.

So much of the film's devastating power is owed to Nolan's key collaborators - the colliding of images of Jennifer Lame's editing, Ludwig Göransson's at once delicate and momentous score, the magnitude of Hoyte van Hoytema's imagery, Nathan Crowley's at once authentic and atmospheric production design - the whole is just a masterclass of large-budget Hollywood filmmaking, and how special that can be when applied to something other than escapist entertainments. And while certainly a far cry from a traditional biopic, Oppenheimer absolutely delivers in amazing performances. It's amazing after to many supporting roles and cameos in The Dark Knight Trilogy Cillian Murphy finally has a full showcase with Nolan and he completely knocks it out of the park. His Oppenheimer is multi-faceted and distinct long before he's leading physicists in Los Alamos, brilliant and pompous, alienating but bewilderingly charismatic too. As a greater weight sets within his soul, Murphy's subtle physical transformation is astounding. The supporting cast is also littered with stellar work. Robert Downey Jr. will likely be a shoe-in for Best Supporting Actor and Emily Blunt is cuttingly powerful with far less screen time, but I want to especially highlight Jason Clarke, who has a largely thankless role as Oppenheimer's prosecutor that he absolutely kills. Then there's Florence Pugh, who's tragic Jean Tatlock preludes the guilt to come. The one performance that gave me some pause is Gary Oldman as President Truman. There's a hammy quality to Oldman's work that at first struck me as odd, but has grown on me tremendously. After Oppenheimer has delivered the bomb to the United States who have utilized its destructive capabilities, who appropriate the man comes face to face with such an obscene portrait of evil.

This is a film that deserves consideration as possibly Christopher Nolan's best, let alone one of the best film's of the year.

A+

I kinda wish I didn't see it even then

Not since Citizen Kane's poster declared "It's Terrific!" has a tagline so aptly summarized the film it's advertising. "If you love Barbie this movie is for you." Of course it is, from the glittery surface of pinks and pastels to the references and nods to the real toyline's history to the film's conviction that Barbie isn't just a toy, but taps into and reflects a deeper aspect of womanhood. "If you hate Barbie this movie is for you." And of course it is, the movie eager to point out how Barbie makes women feel bad by promoting unrealistic beauty standards or promoting crass consumerism implicitly and explicitly or supposedly existing to make girls happy while enriching a boardroom full of cis men. That flavour of self-effacing corporate irony underlines the entirety of Greta Gerwig's summer blockbuster, allowing Barbie to luxuriate in Mattel products so long as it also throws out some stale jabs at the company's mistakes. This self protective irony rarely lets up. Think the film's version of feminism leans on white saviour tropes or that Margot Robbie is too much of a bombshell to adequately make a point about harmful beauty standards? So does the movie, and it's happy to let you know!

That the actual feminist commentary of the film is largely basic and cliché need not itself be an issue. It's a Barbie movie after all, no one should be expecting Chantal Ackerman, but the third act finds itself bogged down in endless speechifying. Here, the fun grinds to a halt so the movie can pontificate on what it means to be a woman under patriarchy. The insight's here are modest at best, but the bigger issue is this misguided need to an important issue movie when it just inherently is not equipped for that. And even when Barbie is allowing itself to just be fun I don't think it's fun enough. The movie has a couple of good jokes and comedic elements - Ryan Gosling's delight in learning of patriarchy, the final line - but I can't say I find the movie especially funny. A couple of chuckles here and there, but also some groaners, even before the movie stops with the jokes to get real. Also, why, in the year of our lord 2023, is Will Ferrell still getting major roles in mainstream studio comedies? Are we not past this?

To be sure, the film has its moments. Barbieland creatively renders doll aesthetics in live-action, the soundtrack wonderfully counterpoints the action, the costumes are great, Robbie and Gosling both give really committed performances, and there are two musical numbers which are definite highlights. That second number in particular rules. But these positives are outweighed by the ponderous need to be more than just a studio comedy, or the self-protective layers of irony that suffocate the substance. This is one of the year's biggest disappointments.

C-

Let’s not exaggerate.

Better Than Oppenheimer
Memento
Batman Begins
The Prestige
The Dark Knight
Inception


Worse Than Oppenheimer
Following
Insomnia
The Dark Knight Rises
Interstellar
Dunkirk
Tenet


Oppenheimer is in the middle. It’s mid-tier Nolan.

You weren’t kidding.