They say opposites attract, which is precisely why the “Barbenheimer” trend caused moviegoers to flock to the theater for “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” this past weekend.
“Barbie” raked in $155 million while “Oppenheimer” beat expectations with $80.5 million.
While the movies are polar opposites, each film offers a unique experience that sports editor Jack Denebeim and publisher Teri Finneman separately took in to get a he said/she said take on the blockbuster summer movies.
Here are our thoughts on each.
Jack Review: Oppenheimer: 8.5/10
“Oppenheimer” takes the audience on a journey throughout several historical time periods that are full of science, politics and some of history’s most interesting people as director Christopher Nolan delivers again with another brilliant film.
Nolan’s direction especially shines during some of the movie’s most tense scenes as the audience is put in the political hearings, the laboratories and the bomb shelter, among other areas, with the characters.
Cillian Murphy’s portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer was both moving and thought-provoking.
The audience can feel the weight of the moral dilemmas that Oppenheimer faced during and after the creation of the atomic bomb. By the end of the movie, you find yourself thinking about all the progress science has made and what it means for mankind. But maybe most importantly, the consequences of progress.
All of the supporting cast members deliver tremendous performances as well, but Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer and Matt Damon as Gen. Leslie Groves stand out from the pack.
Robert Downey Jr. also reminds everyone that he can play more than just Tony Stark in Marvel movies as he wonderfully portrays Lewis Strauss and captures all the emotions of an interesting character.
The visual and audio effects were nothing short of breathtaking as well. This is truly a movie that needs to be seen in the theater so viewers can see and feel the rock of every explosion.
Although the storytelling is great, there is a lot to unpack, especially in the first hour where we jump from time period to time period while also trying to learn about Oppenheimer himself. The first hour just feels messy.
The movie never really gets boring, either, but you definitely feel the full length of the three hours. A lot of the film may depend on the viewer’s own personal interest in history or the story.
Nonetheless, “Oppenheimer” will probably be up for several awards when that time comes.
Teri Review: Oppenheimer: 3/10
As a historian, I was most looking forward to “Oppenheimer” of the two movies. While Jack saw this first, I saw it second, which may have influenced my lack of patience for it.
I rarely go to movies since I never have time. So, to do two movies in one weekend was pushing the bounds. Sitting through what felt like 500 hours of commercials two days in a row before the movies did not help. The ad for Jake from State Farm going to the Haunted Mansion was the best part of my experience on this movie day.
For me, Nolan’s directing was the key problem with this film. Jack called the first hour “messy.” A hot mess would be a good way to describe it. The constant whiplash of going to different time periods to get snippets of stories only to be tossed into another one made it difficult to follow when I am a chronological type gal.
I felt like a 1,000-piece puzzle had been dropped on the floor and a piece from a different end of the puzzle was being picked up every two minutes. (Note: I do not like puzzles, either.)
The flat lighting and what felt like filler material about Oppenheimer’s personal life in the first 45 minutes did not help.
The movie should have been a win for me. My career is U.S. politics, history and academia. But after an hour of trying to figure out what time period I was in at any given moment, I knew I was done and did not have two more hours in me.
Yes, I walked out. Some may call this extreme. I call it saving time.
To be sure, I found the acting excellent. Matt Damon was top notch, and a fascinating article in “People” magazine describes the dedication of Cillian Murphy to the lead role. Emily Blunt said he ate “like, an almond every day” to create his emaciated frame.
I am quite sure this film will win multiple Oscars, including best picture. For what it’s worth, I usually have never seen any of the Oscar movies so it’s typical they aren’t my style.
For me, getting people interested in history is the win here regardless of how I personally felt about the storytelling approach. I do recommend giving it a try, even though it wasn’t for me.
Jack Review: Barbie: 6/10
The movie “Barbie” is a really fun film full of comedy, drama, and, of course, Barbie.
The movie does a good job of mixing humor with serious ideas about feminism and what it is like to be a woman.
That being said, there is nothing subtle about the ideas director Greta Gerwig is trying to push. Gerwig really hammers home ideas of feminism and patriarchy, which kind of take away from the overall joyfulness and fun of the movie for me.
It felt like any opportunity there was to make a comment about “the patriarchy,” it was made, and it was shoved in your face.
However, by the end of the movie, Gerwig makes the audience appreciate just being alive and what being human is all about, which is a really great feeling.
Margot Robbie was the perfect actress to play Barbie. Robbie does an amazing job at bringing the Barbie doll to life.
With her talent, Robbie is able to perfectly go with the flow of the movie and change from a fun, bubbly Barbie to a serious and thoughtful Barbie from one scene to the next with ease.
Ryan Gosling is hilarious as Ken throughout the movie. Gosling perfectly portrays Ken as this nice guy who is borderline creepy toward Barbie, but in a way that is just so funny and awkward at the same time.
Another great casting decision was Kate McKinnon as “Weird Barbie.” With all her spunky movements, facial expressions and overall personality, McKinnon does a really good job at making the Barbie that got played with too hard an interesting and funny character.
From a visual standpoint, there are a ton of beautiful and colorful scenes that just scream “Barbie” at the viewer as well.
Overall, “Barbie” is a fun movie with a cast full of great characters and has a really nice message at the end.
Teri Review: Barbie: 12/10
I didn’t have any firm sights on going to see “Barbie” before this week and knew nothing about the film besides the silly previews on TV.
Turns out, it’s a ridiculously brilliant masterpiece of feminism.
Before I get into that, though, it just felt brightening even before the film began to see people smiling, laughing and taking photos with the “Barbie” poster and pop-ups in the theater. The vibe in the theater itself was just plain fun and full of women sharing together what we know is our day-to-day existence.
I can see why Jack was unsettled by the “in your face” focus on the patriarchy. Yet the purposeful and comedic choice by director Greta Gerwig to do so is simply the reality of real women’s lives.
A circle of knowingness – and sometimes laughter – engulfed the theater of women who know all too well those experiences. An all-male boardroom led by a dundering Will Ferrell in charge of making decisions that impact all of the women in the film? Sounds familiar.
One of the best parts of the film is the rambling epic speech by America Ferrera of the constant challenges that women face to be perfect and enough on a daily basis. As someone who has studied the anti-suffrage/anti-feminism movement, if only her speech worked the same magic in real life as it did in the film.
I wasn’t a fan of the way the movie opened, but I was all in once we actually got to Barbieland. This is a movie aimed at older Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X, for sure, not the kids’ movie some thought it would be. I recommend it not only for women, but also for men, and give kudos to Jack for taking it in.
Jack’s Final Word: As much as I enjoyed both films, my No.1 movie of the summer is still “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”
Full disclosure: I’m a big Spider-Man dork, so this could be just my personal bias toward anything Spider-Man, but I think the flow of Spider-Man sets it apart from “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie.”
The flow takes you through the story and the “Spider-Verse” tremendously, and it does it in a way that is easy to follow, which the other movies just don’t really do. “Oppenheimer” is close, but it jumps around way more often than Spider-Man, which makes it hard to follow at some points.
The visuals of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” are so magnificent as well. The artwork truly makes it a walking, talking comic book.
I’ve seen Spider-Man twice already, and kind of want to see it a third time before it is out of theaters. I don’t think I will be saying the same thing about “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie,” even though I thought both movies were good.
Teri’s Final Word: I’m looking forward to “Haunted Mansion.” This new one looks immensely better than the one that came out 20 years ago.
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