Premise:
The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.
Directors:
Christopher Nolan
Writers:
Christopher Nolan, Kai Bird, Martin Sherwin
Cast:
Cillian Murphy ... J. Robert Oppenheimer
Emily Blunt ... Kitty Oppenheimer
Robert Downey Jr. ... Lewis Strauss
Alden Ehrenreich ... Senate Aide
Scott Grimes ... Counsel
Jason Clarke ... Roger Robb
Kurt Koehler ... Thomas Morgan
Tony Goldwyn ... Gordon Gray
John Gowans ... Ward Evans
Macon Blair ... Lloyd Garrison
James D'Arcy ... Patrick Blackett
Kenneth Branagh ... Niels Bohr
| RELEASE DATE | RUNTIME | ROTTENTOMATOES | IMDB | METACRITIC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 21st, 2023 | 3hr | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Ok, hear me out. I really like Cillian and RDJ in this movie, and the performances all the way were incredible.
But I got a massive disappointment when the explosion happened. People touted left and right how it was done only with practical effects, no CG! And in the end it looked like a warehouse exploded, it was so tiny. Was the real atomic bomb that underwhelming?
Other than that, the 3 hours flew by. I was engaged the whole time, it was an amazing piece of cinema.
I was also underwhelmed by the execution of the Trinity test specifically. I know they relied on solely practical effects, so it’s not realistic that they would match the awe of the actual test footage.
It didn’t leave with the same existential dread like other relevant media has in the past.
But the dread is that the world has the atomic bomb at it’s fingertips now
For me, this movie is a tragedy; the real explosion was the juxtaposition of the project team celebrating while what boils down to the death of 70k Japanese. Phenomenal - without being judgmental.
The actual trinity test in the film — felt like it was intended not to awe nor overwhelm us but to give us space to allow us to reflect on our relationship with fire, weapons and war (vs a spectacular explosion ala Death Star).
So for those of us who are literalists…I can see how it might not rank up there, lacking the raw impact of say Terminator.
I thought it was the other way around.
The silence when the explosion happened engulfing the screen with fire, letting it sink for you that how destructive it is, followed by the boom to shake you with its impact was so well done.