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Reviews
Oppenheimer (2023)
An (almost) Perfect Movie, A True Cinematic Masterpiece.
Oppenheimer is undoubtedly a contender for the best movie of the year, probably the decade so far, maybe even movie of the 21st century given the current significance of nuclear warfare. I'm going to be completely honest and disclose that I had never seen a Christopher Nolan film at a cinema before (a crime, I know) and my socks were blown off.
The cinematography is great, the soundtrack is excellent, the script is great and the pacing of this mammoth 3 hour movie is pretty much perfect. For those that don't know, this movie follows a certain structure where we see an accusation of one description or another levelled against Oppenheimer and then we are shown a flashback where the details of said accusation are explored. By the end of these flashbacks, a new plot point enters, leading to another accusation against Oppenheimer, and rinse repeat. This is the pattern of the first hour and a half of the film and it results in a perfect flow of information for the audience. I'm a keen historian, but I had little to no knowledge of Oppenheimer outside of his status as the perceived father of the nuclear bomb, and yet the film never overwhelmed me to the point where I couldn't understand what was happening. Well done script writing team.
Also, the acting in this film is absolutely off the scale incredible. I've been a fan of Cillian Murphy for years thanks to his role as Tommy Shelby on Peaky Blinders and he stars in this film as the titular character. I really hope this film brings him an Oscar, he truly deserves it for how he portrays the mentally frail Oppenheimer. Robert Downey Jr's performance as Lewis Strauss is a slow burner thanks to how the revealing of information is structured but by the end of the film I was in awe of his egotistical, enraged character who was aware he was on the brink of a loss of all he'd worked for. Matt Damon is a load of fun in this film which surprised me, Tom Conti as Albert Einstein is utterly brilliant, and Florence Pugh (despite her lack of screentime) is also exceptional. However, that leads me on to my main (and pretty much only) complaint with this film.
I really didn't buy much into Oppenheimers romantic life in this film. Murphys chemistry with Pugh was exceptional and the scenes they have together are great. However, there aren't enough of them, and therefore Tatlocks suicide falls a little bit flat. The actress who plays Kitty (apologies for forgetting her name) also unfortunately provides the one performance in the film I struggled to buy into due to her occasionally brash line delivery and slight stiffness interacting with other actors. She wasn't bad, but she certainly made my sympathy for her discovery of the Tatlock affair a bit limited.
(Also, the way this film finishes, I was fully expecting Murphy to deliver the famous "i am death, destroyer of worlds" quote for the third time in the film when it cuts to black and he didn't. Would've ended the film excellently but never mind)
However, this minor complaint pales in comparison to my praise for the film. Its really good and a sure fire contender for all Oscars. It could perhaps have been better if the last 45 minutes of the movie were streamlined allowing for more development of Tatlock and Kitty as characters within the 3 hour runtime but at the end of the day, I don't really mind too much. Definite must watch!
Young Sheldon (2017)
Okay with Sheldon, Great without Him
Honestly if this show was called Keeping up With The Coopers or something like that it would work way better. Since Sheldon moved to college in S4 he's been so irrelevant to a lot of the storyline that it's hard to excuse. That's not a slight on Ian McArmitages performance: he does feel like a young Jim Parsons. But he really isn't as interesting as the rest of the family, and it's hard to see how Sheldon can be written into the eventual George Sr cheating scandal without it being extremely tedious. Hope that S6 and S7 can tie a bow nicely on this story without damaging it too much, while recapturing some of the spark that made S1-4 really enjoyable. That being said, Georgie, Missy, Meemaw, Mary and George Sr do stop this show from being actually bad, the actors put on a really good performance and just have great chemistry. All this show needs is a more engaging and likeable Sheldon again and it will be right up there with some of the earlier seasons as the story of the young genius comes to a close. Hoping for the best.
The Incredibles (2004)
Still the peak of the superhero genre!
Superhero movies have been around for a very long time, and there are certainly some great films among them. Infinity War, The Batman, Civil War (remember this one) and Endgame are notable inclusions. However, I'm still of the opinion that The Incredibles is the best superhero movie ever made, and here's why.
Firstly, the story and characters are absolutely phenomenal. Outside of the Glory Days sequence at the start, the first half an hour of the 2 hour runtime is a family drama where every character is fleshed out and made completely unique through iconic scene after iconic scene. There is not a single character who is unlikeable, from the Parr family right down to Bernie the apoplectic school teacher or the pint sized office boss (whose name I unfortunately can't remember). The transition into a spy thriller and then into a superpowered final battle is smooth and gripping and feels completely natural. The pace of the movie is perfect.
It is also worth noting that this film does not suffer from the overly quippy jokes problem that some superhero movies suffer from, most notably some of the more recent MCU projects. There is geniune comedy woven in to this film through certain scenes and characters, and this is most prevalent in Edna Mode's scenes. Shes probably my favourite side character ever in any movie, even outside the superhero genre.
The musical score of the movie is also unbelivably well made. The way it mirrors what is happening on screen is truly amazing, even taking a more muted turn when Elastigirl is travelling through the tunnel during her infiltration of the island lair. This just demonstrates how well made and thought out this movie is. The cinematography is also, pardon the pun, Incredible. So many shots of this film are so uncommon to see in an animated film, such as the over the shoulder shot of the Omnidroid 08 fight (which, I might add, is the best fight in the whole film), or the silhouette of Mr Incredible in front of the giant screen when learning about Operation Kronos.
The whole concept of supers being driven into hiding through outrage over damages is also executed perfectly here. Referring back to Civil War, the Sokovia Accords are for me the weakest element of the film, as the threats the Avengers faced were always going to need heavier solutions. General Ross even shows the Avengers the HYDRA/SHIELD conflict from Winter Soldier and genuinely tries to make it seem like it's their fault. It makes no sense and is a blip in an other wise great action movie. However here, Mr Incredible causes problems not by being messy in his crime fighting, but by going above and beyond trying to save everyone and inadvertently doing more damage. This is far more believable and provides an excellent foundation for the rest of the film.
This film also features one of the best villains in Syndrome. Jason Lee kills the role and creates a haunting vision of what breaking a person's dreams at an early age can do if they make all the wrong decisions. I also love the fact that he makes mistakes with his tech, losing Mr Incredible with his taser and even losing control of his own robot because essentially he is just a grown up kid with bitter resentment lodged in his heart, and not a genuinely cold, calculating villain.
The adult nature of this PG movie also has to be commended. The whole marriage dynamic and the shocking revelation of the superhero genocide is unbelievably mature for Pixar and it is safe to say they never managed to replicate it (though that isn't really a criticism).
If I were to make a small nitpicky criticism, it would have to be that the Omnidroid 10 seems weaker than the 08 and 09 versions which is odd. Mr Incredible barely escaped from the 08 with his life, and the 09 tossed him around like a rag doll and would have killed him if if wasn't for Syndromes arrival, where he disables the robot so he can have a chat with his idol. Why then, even with a new laser gun attached, is the 10 so weak? The 08 and 09 seem to be way faster speed wise and actually learn from their fights with Bob. The 10 doesn't seem to be the "learning robot" which the other two were, which is a little odd. Granted, it does do the rolling ball trick and jumps obscenely high to chase Frozone and Dash, but other than that it seems a major step back from its predecessors and just overall is less brutal, which seems unusual. It doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the movie so doesnt change my perfect score, and maybe I'm just pushing for a counterargument,
but I do find that a bit weird.
Overall, the combination of insanely complex character growth, thrilling plot, (mostly) exceptional action sequences, stunning animation, and world class soundtrack make this the best superhero movie ever made. Infinity War is a close second, and does set the bar in terms of pure spectacle (mainly due to the lengthy set up), but as a complete movie, this has to take the crown. Where's my supersuit?