Oppenheimer First Reviews: Breathtaking, Ballsy, and One of the Best Biopics Ever Made

Oppenheimer First Reviews: Breathtaking, Ballsy, and One of the Best Biopics Ever Made

Move over, Batman, because Christopher Nolan might have reached a new high. According to the first reviews of Nolan’s latest, Oppenheimer is a remarkable achievement, and it’s sure to go down as one of the best films of 2023. The biopic stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, who led the American effort to create the first atomic bomb. His performance is being celebrated, though many in the movie’s cast have been isolated for praise or recognized collectively as a stellar ensemble piece. To top it all off, the reception to the film has been so overwhelmingly positive that it...

Move over, Batman, because Christopher Nolan might have reached a new high. According to the first reviews of Nolan’s latest, Oppenheimer is a remarkable achievement, and it’s sure to go down as one of the best films of 2023. The biopic stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, who led the American effort to create the first atomic bomb. His performance is being celebrated, though many in the movie’s cast have been isolated for praise or recognized collectively as a stellar ensemble piece. To top it all off, the reception to the film has been so overwhelmingly positive that it has already been Certified Fresh. Here’s what critics are saying about Oppenheimer: Is this possibly the best movie of the year? “Oppenheimer isn’t just an epic masterpiece but one of the most important films of the year.” – Danielle Solzman, Solzy at the Movies “The most breathtaking film of the year.” – Jordan Hoffman, The Messenger “This is a big, ballsy, serious-minded cinematic event of a type now virtually extinct from the studios.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter “Unless Hollywood has a sleeper hit waiting in the wings, Oppenheimer is primed to be 2023’s best film.” – Maggie Lovitt, Millennial Falcon Reviews “The film stands as the best of 2023.” – Sheraz Farooqi, Cinema Debate “2023’s best.” – Nick Schager, The Daily Beast “The best film of 2023 and one of the greatest biopics ever.” – David Gonzalez, The Cinematic Reel (Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures) Will Christopher Nolan fans enjoy it? “It’s hard to know how the Nolan fanboys will respond to a movie as heady, historically curious, and grounded in gravitas as Oppenheimer which has little in common with the brooding majesty of his Batman movies or the tricky mindf–kery of films like Inception or Tenet. In terms of its stirring solemnity, it’s perhaps closest to Dunkirk, while its melding of science and emotion recalls Interstellar.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter “Oppenheimer feels like the culmination of everything the director has done so far in his already remarkable career.” – Ross Bonaime, Collider “Oppenheimer is nothing if not a biopic as only Christopher Nolan could make one. Indeed, it would seem like the ideal vehicle for Nolan’s career-long exploration into the black holes of the human condition — the last riddles of a terrifyingly understandable world.” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire Is it one of his most impressive films? “Oppenheimer—a film of endless contrasts and contradictions—is the fullest expression of the writer/director’s artistry to date… surely the finest and most inspired film of Nolan’s career.” – Nick Schager, The Daily Beast “Nolan has created not just one of his best films, but easily the most mature film of his career.” – Ross Bonaime, Collider “With Oppenheimer, Nolan might just be at his most experimental… [He] is now in the conversation for the greatest director of all time.” – Sheraz Farooqi, Cinema Debate “It may just be Nolan’s magnum opus… [his] most profound and career-defining film to date.” – Maggie Lovitt, Millennial Falcon Reviews (Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures) How is the screenplay? “In what could be Christopher Nolan’s best screenplay thus far, Oppenheimer weaves through a three-act structure that can be divided into these unique entities; a rich character-driven deconstruction, a tense-filled thriller, and a politically laced courtroom drama.” – David Gonzalez, The Cinematic Reel “It is undoubtedly his strongest script and most cohesive plot.” – Maggie Lovitt, Millennial Falcon Reviews “Nolan has crafted an incredibly dense script that never manages to feel too convoluted or overwhelming—a feat in itself, considering how many timelines and characters are thrown into the mix.” – Ross Bonaime, Collider Is it difficult to understa...