I took the family to see Christopher Nolan’s new movie “Oppenheimer” on Sunday. Caroline had seen it the weekend before, and raved about it. She was more than willing to see it again, and I wanted to see it specifically in IMAX.
I’m not going to go into an in-depth review, because there will be plenty of those out there. What I will say is that it is exactly what a movie should be. Wonderful script. Superb acting. Beautiful cinematography. And a sound design that will win the Oscar. Just gorgeous, and…what’s the word…affecting.
Having experienced several of his movies now, it’s easy to spot the Nolan-isms, if you will. (It’s very analogous to spotting the [Aaron] Sorkin-isms in his television and movie writing.):
- Playing with time itself and multiple timelines
- Beautiful music overplaying abstract visuals to build (and even represent) tension
- Superb company of actors – Cillian Murphy (himself) has been in 6 Nolan films – Matt Damon – Emily Blunt – Robert Downey Jr. – Florence Pugh – Kenneth Branagh – (Just to name a few)
- The story’s protagonist is a martyr – This time he puts a “hat on a hat” with Kitty calling out Robert (Oppenheimer) for allowing them to make him a martyr.
Overall, a fantastic movie. One I’m interested to see how its translation into homes (via inferior sound setups from the IMAX movie experience) goes. Because in the theater, it was intense.
