First Oppenheimer reviews praise Christopher Nolan’s epic visuals, Cillian Murphy’s ‘tour de force’ performance: ‘This is the big bang’

The film tells the dramatic story of physicist J Robert Oppenheimer’s mission to develop the world’s first atomic bomb in the 1940s. Longtime Nolan collaborator Cillian Murphy is already attracting Oscar buzz for his central performance. The movie also stars Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh and dozens of others in supporting roles.

The Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips wrote, “This is a film about terrible risks and a planet likely destined to destroy itself someday. And we see it, and feel it.” The New York Times’ Manohla Dargis wrote, “Oppenheimer is a great achievement in formal and conceptual terms, and fully absorbing, but Nolan’s filmmaking is, crucially, in service to the history that it relates.” Writing for the Guardian, Peter Bradshaw called the movie ‘the big bang’. “Elevated by Cillian Murphy’s exacting performance, Nolan’s biopic on the father of the atomic bomb is majestic and morally complex,” wrote The Wrap’s Tomris Laffly.

But not all reviews are positive. The Film Verdict’s Alonso Duralde wrote, “Like its protagonist, Oppenheimer is a work in constant conflict with itself, with most of its problems rooted in Nolan’s screenplay.” The Boston Globe’s Odie Henderson wrote, “What I can say for sure is that “Oppenheimer” far too often feels like a three-hour Wikipedia entry than a compelling movie.”

Nolan’s best-reviewed movie, according to Rotten Tomatoes, remains 2008’s The Dark Knight (94%). Oppenheimer’s 92% score is the same as Insomnia and Dunkirk. His worst-reviewed film is 2020’s Tenet, which has a 69% score.

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