Oppenheimer / Barbie (2023) Movie Reviews
Oppenheimer (2023) / Barbie (2023) Movie Reviews
It kinda goes without saying that recently there’s been a lot of commotion surrounding the simultaneous releases of Barbie and Oppenheimer. By the way people have been going nuts about it, you’d think two movies had never been released on the same weekend before. I was initially not sold on the idea that this was some sort of big deal, but gradually I became more interested in the whole to-do because it felt like it was genuinely getting people excited for new movies again after a summer full of unfortunate blockbuster box office bombs. The whole double feature idea seemed like it was going to bring a lot of audience members in for both films that probably wouldn’t have otherwise gone and seen them. And in the spirit of going and supporting seeing films in theaters, I could totally get on board with that. I decided to review both of these movies in one go, just with separate paragraphs.
The honest truth is that I’m not the hugest Christopher Nolan fan out there; there isn’t a film of his that I would say I genuinely love, even though I have enjoyed every film of his I’ve seen. Grand, dense two-and-a-half-hour mind-benders can hit the spot for sure, but at the end of the day aren’t what I would seek out to watch. Regardless, I had been anticipating his newest effort Oppenheimer, even though period pieces aren’t my usual cup of tea, either. And honestly, as someone who isn’t generally super into movies in this vein, I got more out of this than I was expecting. It’s engaging and fast-paced for the majority of its length, and the charismatic on-screen presences of most of the actors greatly benefit its easiness to watch. The casting department for this movie went ham and their decisions paid off; Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey, Jr. both turn in legitimately memorable performances. Also very much worth mentioning is the inclusion of a handful of traditionally comedic actors in some of the smaller roles, most notably in my opinion being Josh Peck and Devon Bostick; as a lifelong Diary of a Wimpy Kid enthusiast, I have to root for the guy. As much as I like Matt Damon, he honestly feels sort of out of place in this movie, bringing a jokey and maybe-too-excited-to-be-there energy to every scene he’s in that clashes with the moody and mathematical atmosphere created by the rest of the characters. It almost goes without saying that a lot of care was obviously put into pretty much every aspect of this film; I even found myself noticing well-done features I usually don’t such as the effective, tension-building score and the historically accurate dialogue that didn’t sacrifice being easy to follow for modern audiences. Slightly surprisingly but perhaps fittingly, this movie is very tense at times, with the tension building up to the obvious bomb moment feeling pretty much palpable. The explosion moment doesn’t disappoint at all, and the fiery, hellish imagery was a nice touch that I found myself appreciating. Everything leading up to the bomb test set piece I was really into, but once the film enters its post-explosion third hour, the pacing hits a brick wall and I lost some of my interest that had been building with the film’s momentum. The hour-long third act of the movie focuses on Oppenheimer’s later-on troubles with the authorities as his past with the Communist party is called into question relative to his work on the bomb. While it never quite dipped into “boring” territory, I found myself wishing the film had explored more of the psychological/surreal aspects that had been sprinkled in sporadically throughout the second hour instead. Maybe those wishes are just in line with my personal tastes for films, but I felt slightly confused why more wasn’t said about how the dropping of the bomb affected him. The final act gives Robert Downey, Jr. a good chance to shine in his role but it’s maybe at the cost of truly exploring the psychological effects of such a large and devastating event with any sort of significance. There are also a handful of moments of nightmarish and jarring surrealism, and I really wish the movie would’ve leaned a little more in that direction as well, because since it doesn’t, those interesting and unpredictable moments end up feeling unfortunately out of place. That being said, Nolan’s latest serving, Oppenheimer, is one that I doubt will disappoint many. I’m happy to say that I didn’t find it underwhelming or forgettable; it lives up to its hype.
To start with, I want to say that I did pay to see Barbie, and I don’t need to make up excuses for having seen a “girl movie” like I might have in the past; films are for everyone to experience and to consider. Anyways… while this isn’t necessarily one of my favorite movies of the year, it’s still a fun watch that decidedly lived up to my personal expectations. Even from the first few minutes of the film, it’s obvious how much time and effort and care went into making Barbie, and I can respect pretty much any movie where that’s so blatantly evident. While the story itself is one that is essentially familiar to moviegoing audiences, there’s a lot about this film that feels genuinely fresh and idiosyncratic. The Barbieland brought to life onscreen is impossible not to marvel at in terms of sheer quality of set and production design, and creates this vivid world that you want to get to know more as soon as you’re introduced to it. The two leads, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, both kill their parts and it was super obvious that they were very into their roles and had fun becoming those characters. It’s refreshing to see a film where it’s clear that everybody who made it was so in love with it while doing so. This movie has been the subject of a surprisingly substantial amount of backlash due to its socio-political themes, so going into it I honestly expected to be bashed over the head with its messages. Leaving the theater, I was confused as to what all of the uproar was about; this movie says nothing especially radical politically, instead basically just saying that men and women should be equal. While I had no problems with the scenes that focused on this point, similarly to Oppenheimer, I found myself more interested in the more left-field and dreamlike aspects that the film sometimes hinted at or vaguely incorporated but never dove headfirst into. I loved the moments when Barbie was inbetween Barbieland and The Real World, or when she found herself surrounded by only blank white space. While the film didn’t have me contemplating the universe or anything, I did find some of its larger non-social/political themes pretty interesting, most notably for me what it means to mean something to someone else and the privilege of having a place in someone else’s life. Overall, I would say that I probably took more away from Oppenheimer in the end, but I’m very glad I saw both films, and Barbie is actually pretty fun.
