Although Barbie has been an unparalleled critical success—and it seems likely to be a box office hit as well—the first battle against its unexpected rival, Oppenheimer, which also debuts on the same weekend, has been lost. Oppenheimer has emerged on Rotten Tomatoes with an incredible 96% approval rating from critics—although it has since dropped to 92%, where it seems to have stabilized. This puts the film slightly ahead of Barbie, although it’s clear that both movies are excellent.
Christopher Nolan‘s film tells the story of Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who led the Manhattan Project and was the key figure behind the atomic bomb. His story is undoubtedly heart-wrenching but essential in the course of World War II. And it appears that Nolan has captured it perfectly. But why has this movie been so well-received?
“The best and most inspired film of Nolan’s career”
The reviews for Oppenheimer make it clear that it is a very distinctive film in Christopher Nolan’s career, blending drama and depth with spectacle in a way that only he knows how. Here are some reviews of the movie:
“It’s difficult to gauge how Nolan’s fans will respond to a film as intoxicating, historically curious, and serious-minded as Oppenheimer. It has little in common with the haunting majesty of his Batman films or the deceptive imagination of movies like Inception or Tenet. In terms of its moving solemnity, it is perhaps the closest to Dunkirk that he has done, while its fusion of science and emotion is reminiscent of Interstellar.” – The Hollywood Reporter
“Oppenheimer feels like the culmination of everything the director has done so far in his already remarkable career.” – Collider
“Oppenheimer is a biographical film as only Christopher Nolan could make. In fact, it seems like the perfect vehicle for exploring Nolan’s entire career in the black holes of the human condition: the ultimate enigmas of a frighteningly understandable world.” – IndieWire
“Oppenheimer is a film of infinite contrasts and contradictions, the most complete expression of the writer/director’s artistry to date… arguably Nolan’s finest and most inspired film of his career” – The Daily Beast
“With Oppenheimer, Nolan could be at his most experimental… [He] is now in the conversation of becoming one of the greatest directors of all time” – Cinema Debate
“It may be Nolan’s magnum opus. It’s his deepest and defining film of his career to date” – Millennial Falcon Reviews
“In what could be Christopher Nolan’s best screenplay to date, Oppenheimer weaves a three-act structure that can be divided into these unique entities; a rich character-driven deconstruction, a tension-filled thriller, and a political courtroom drama” – The Cinematic Reel
“Considering Oppenheimer’s involvement with quantum mechanics, the film does a commendable job of explaining scientific concepts for the layperson” – United Press International
“Murphy’s performance is as inspired as the rest of the cast’s” – IndieWire
“Downey delivers a thunderous, Oscar-worthy performance that is one of the best of his career” – The Cinematic Reel
“It speaks to the caliber of this cast that there’s not enough room to praise the excellent Kenneth Branagh, Casey Affleck, and Rami Malek, who all shine” – New York Post
“At no point did this film feel slow because it held my attention every minute” – Solzy at the movies
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