Month: July 2023

Oppenheimer (2023) Review

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Quick Synopsis: A comprehensive look at the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, focusing mainly on his developing the atomic bomb, and the post-war treatment he received.

This is a BIG movie. It’s been advertised for over a year, to the point where I was genuinely starting to get a bit fed up with it by September last year. That level of hype usually only leads to disappointment. Added to that, I’m not THAT big a fan of Nolan as a writer; I’ve found his last few films to be incredibly well-made, but lacking any sense of genuine emotion. I’ve also had issues with his sound mixing (ESPECIALLY in Tenet) because he sometimes has the dialogue incredibly quiet in an attempt to make the audience “lean in”. Oppenheimer has a lot of two things: talking, and explosions. I didn’t have as big an issue with sound in this as I have previously, but that might be because I watched a subtitled version.

Whilst I’m on that subject I have to say something to cinemas; if you have a subtitled screening of a popular film, have the trailers beforehand be subtitled too, otherwise you’re only providing half an experience.

Anyway, back to the review. Oppenheimer had another issue going against it; we all know how it ends. Nobody is sitting watching it and wondering if they’re going to successfully create the bomb; the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are pretty infamous. So I was curious how this was going to work; especially with it being 3 hours long.

I’m glad to say it works. And a good reason for that is obvious if you look at the title; Oppenheimer. It’s not about the bomb per se, the narrative arc is not based around the device, it’s around the person building the device; with a lot of focus on how he was treated post-war. Spoilers; he was essentially demonised because they suspected he was a communist and traitor. They set him up in a sham hearing and revoked his security clearance to ruin his career. It’s incredibly disturbing to see, especially since “but he thinks employees should be paid in money and not kind words; communist!” style headlines can still derail a politician’s chances in modern America. We never really had that issue over here during the cold war; we didn’t derail a war hero’s life just because we suspected they were left-wing; nope, we did it because they were gay, because we’re kind!

It’s actually an outstanding watch. It’s not as complicated as it could be; part of that is because Nolan casts recognisable faces in small roles; Creepy Casey Affleck appears for a few minutes, as does Remi Malek, Gary Oldman, David Dastmalchian etc. This really helps the audience remember who the characters are; because we recognise them so they’re all distinctive. That is needed as there is A LOT to unpack here. Despite it being three hours long, it still moves very quickly at times, to the point where there are not that many places where you’d feel comfortable zoning out. Whether it’s important dialogue, historical references, or even just remarkable visuals, every scene has a reason to exist.

About the visuals; this is Nolans’ best visual feast so far. It’s astounding what he’s pulled off here, especially when it was pretty much all done without CGI. The test explosion is a big deal, so if it didn’t seem big, the film would collapse. Thankfully, it seems impressive. I think Nolan could have done a better job of showing the effects of it though. We get Oppenheimer hallucinating what happened, but it almost feels like the effect it had on the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is sidelined for the personal drama. I get why, but it does feel like it’s really understated the horrific effects it had on civilians.

Overall, this is a remarkable film, and one that I feel really gains something from being seen at the cinema. But like a lot of Nolans’ work, I’m not really in a rush to see it again. I will say this though; Cillian Murphy NEEDS to be nominated for Best Actor next year. He gives everything to this performance, and it says a lot that even when a large explosion is happening, you can’t take your eyes off him. I would recommend seeing this; just make sure you go to a subtitled screening, and maybe take ear protection.

Elemental (2023)

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Quick synopsis: A fire girl and water guy meet and fall in love.

Pixar are one of the few studios I actively trust. If a film has already piqued my interest, then finding out it’s being released by Blumhouse or A24 might make me go see it slightly quicker, but their name being attached to something is not going to be the deciding factor in me watching it. But Pixar is different, if a Pixar film is released, I’m going to see it, because 90% of the time it’s going to be a really good experience (okay I’ve just run the numbers and it’s actually 84% of the time, but that’s still a really good hit rate). With the exception of Cars 2, even low-grade Pixar is still better than 90% of stuff out there. So where does this rank? It’s not up there with the best, but it’s nowhere near the worst. In terms of the bad; the plot is predictable. Sometimes when I say that I mean it in a “when you get near the final third you can figure out what’s happening next”, sometimes I mean it in a “by the end of the first act I can guess the ending”, for this? I could figure out what was going to happen just by looking at the poster. It’s incredibly predictable, you can figure out what will happen, how it will happen, and when it will. But that doesn’t actually matter, sometimes predictability is okay. It would be weird if someone remade Romeo and Juliet but changed the ending so that both characters ended up being 3 otters in a trenchcoat who were intent on stealing the world’s supply of fish. Yes, it would be a surprise, but it would also be shit and not make any sense. Sometimes you want a simple story about a guy meeting a girl and they end up together.

That only works if the audience buys into the central concept, and to do that, they need to WANT the two people to be together. I can’t speak for everybody, but I REALLY wanted the two to be together, the way they react to each other is adorable. They’re played by performers I’m not too familiar with; Leah Lewis was in How To Deter A Robber, and Mamoudou Athie was in Patti Cake$, but I can’t remember them too much, all I can remember from Athie’s performance in PC was how much he reminded me of the guy from Lightspeed Champion. It’s a really fresh cast in terms of how unknown everybody is, the only name most people will recognise is Catherine O’Hara. It’s a brave move to anchor so much on unknown performers, but it works. From a vocal performance, they’re absolutely perfect, the voices match the body types; Lewis has a firey voice which speaks in short bursts, whereas Athie has a vocal performance that feels more fluid and like it’s a continuous flow.

The animation is stunning. Two things are notably difficult to animate; fire and water. So deciding to have a film based on characters comprised of those two things is a display of either bravery or stupidity. It could have looked awful. Thankfully it looks astounding, everything works together to create a visual treat. All the characters have a weight to them which means they don’t just feel like 2-dimensional images on screen, but feel incredibly real and wonderful. The way the buildings are designed around the different elements is delightful.

Now onto the best thing; the emotion. Pixar are bastards because they know how to emotionally manipulate you. They know how to make you cry like a child who has lost their ice cream. It’s not sophisticated; it’s pretty basic in terms of how they signpost it and pull it off, but it’s so damn effective that even when you know you’re being manipulated you can’t resist it.

As I said though, it is predictable, and there are a few plot points which don’t get to be as important as you feel they could be. When it has a choice between the big and the personal, it goes with the personal. But still sets up the big thing. It’s a bit weird and feels slightly first draft. If they paid more love to the script it could have been great, instead, it’s just pretty damn good.

Aftersun (2022) Review

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Quick Synopsis: A heartwarming slice-of-life drama about a father and his daughter on holiday in the ’90s.

Aftersun is beautiful. I need to say that first. Not because I’m going to spend this review slating this film and I need you to know that no matter what problems I have with this, I do still like it. No, I need to say that first because that’s my first thought if anybody asks me my opinion on it. In some ways it’s about nothing, it’s just a dad on holiday with his daughter. So if you’re going in and skim-watching (not paying attention, not thinking of subtext etc) it won’t be for you. But if you’re watching and paying attention to the unsaid moments, the worrying subtext of much of the dialogue and the behaviour (such as the father talking about depression, then writing a lot of letters to his daughter before breaking down and crying), it will break you. But it won’t break you in an “I am now despondent and hate everything” way, but in a way that whilst sad, carries a sense of beauty. Like being at a funeral for a dear friend.

As I said, in some ways, Aftersun is a film where nothing happens. So it makes it hard to talk about and explain. So I’ll try to do it by talking about how it reminded me of a mix of The Florida Project and Lady Bird. There’s a real sense of nostalgia in this. I was instantly transported to the Spanish holidays I took with my family in the 90s. That feeling of being far too hot, spending all your time by the pool, playing video games/pool with strangers, and latching onto strangers who you have nothing in common with except the fact you’re both English. “Wow, you’re from Liverpool? I’m only from a place about 7 hours away, we’re basically neighbours!”. This sense of nostalgia is helped by the moments which are shot like a home movie (well, not “home” but you get what I mean). The video quality and lack of stability to the shots instantly remind you of when everybody’s dad would record their holidays, talking over them, and getting video footage that you’ll never ever watch again unless something interesting happens. It’s not nostalgia in the sense of “those were the fun times”, but there is definitely a sense of longing, a sense of yearning for those memories to be clearer so you can emotionally wrap yourself in them and use them for warmth.

Aftersun would not have worked if the relationship between the two leads felt fake. It’s difficult for two adults to fake a familial relationship, let alone an adult and a child actor. Yet you never doubt the sincerity between the two. They genuinely feel like father and daughter, which is a testament to the talent of both Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, as well as whoever made the decision that the two of them should spend time at a holiday resort in Turkey during rehearsals.

It’s not a perfect film, though. But my issues with it are mainly ones of different personal preferences than outright “nope, that was stupid and wrong”. I’d have preferred some of the shots to linger a little bit more so that the audience could take in the emotion of what was happening. I’d have also liked to have seen a bit more of the current Sophie, her moments are too fleeting so the adult version of her doesn’t feel as developed or full as she could, which means the younger version is lacking something too.

So, overall a very good watch, but not one that’s for everybody.