Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer seems like another great show from the director, but that only adds to the growing problem with the director's movies. The celebrated filmmaker has become known for innovating cinema, whether through his original narration or extensive use of IMAX cameras. His use of technically advanced cameras in movies like The Dark Knight is the reason why they have become common use in Hollywood. Nolan uses them to shoot huge, explosive, hands-on action sequences, and the IMAX cameras make scenes look so much bigger, but that's actually part of the problem.
Nolan's 2023 film Oppenheimer is a biographical drama about the titular physicist, who was at the forefront of creating the atomic bomb. Although it is set during World War II, it is primarily about the personal life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, his struggle with his profession, and his internal conflicts. More than anything, it's a character study, and with a budget of at least $100 million, it's one of the most expensive character studies ever. An Oppenheimer biopic doesn't necessarily have to cost $100 million, and while it will certainly look spectacular, the biographical drama's focus on action is a step too far and a bad sign for Nolan's future.
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher Nolan, Kai Bird, Martin Sherwin
Stars: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon
Nolan repeatedly outdoes himself when it comes to scale and stakes in his films, literally to the point where Oppenheimer talks about a bomb that could wipe out humanity. However, since the movie is more of a personal story, all that scale is just a nice backdrop. Nolan could have made a much more engaging drama on a lower budget, as those explosive effects could take away from how heartbreaking Oppenheimer's story really is. Memento is the perfect example, as Nolan directed the small-scale thriller with just $9 million and no bells and whistles. It arguably wouldn't have connected with audiences either if it had an epic budget of $100 million.
Each consecutive release from the filmmaker has been bigger and far more ambitious than anything he's done before, but that came at the expense of writing. While Tenet has some of the most jaw-dropping action sequences ever filmed, it only has a 69% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is well below what Nolan is used to. And Interstellar's score isn't much higher, sitting at 73% on the review aggregator site. Although his blockbuster films are epic, he is sorely missed by his smaller films, more focused on story and dialogue. And the loud, epic scores, ever-massive all-star casts, and sweeping action scenes don't make up for it.
There's no denying that Batman Begins changed the movie industry when it comes to taking comic book projects seriously. And it totally pushed the envelope when it came to the technical elements, even if Nolan destroyed three IMAX cameras. However, he also went further with his pre-Batman Begins films, not with epic action sequences but with completely original storytelling. Prior to the 2005 superhero movie, Nolan directed two amazing thrillers, 2000's Memento and 2002's Insomnia, both of which featured some of the best writing in Nolan's films. When it comes to Nolan's most recent blockbuster movies, the writing has taken a backseat to the expensive effects.
While Inception and Insomnia have just as mind-bending narratives as Memento, they're still full of plot holes and loose ends, not to mention requiring a serious suspension of disbelief. Although Memento and Insomnia lacked IMAX cameras and $100 million effects, they had incredible writing. The 2000 film follows a man with amnesia who tries to discover the murderer of his wife, but the film plays backwards and presents a truly sinister twist. Insomnia was more expensive, having a budget of $46 million, but since the film lacks the spectacle of Nolan's later films, most of its budget was probably the salaries of Robin Williams and Al Pacino.
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