Matthew (Barbie):
The Barbie movie started off strong in the box office, grossing $70.8 million on its opening day and $162 million across the entire July 21-23 weekend. Its biggest stars include Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken. The movie encapsulates Barbie and Ken’s journey from “Barbie Land” to the real world in an effort to repair the gateway between the two realms. The film is lighthearted and comical, yet highlights quite heavy and serious topics. It is this very potent juxtaposition that makes the movie a near masterpiece.
Barbieland is an opposite reflection of the real world, where women occupy every place in government, lead most male-dominated workspaces, and every night is “Girls Night.” The Kens are just an extension of Barbie, and do not really have an individual identity. Barbies are given jobs and titles, like “President Barbie ” or “Mermaid Barbie,” while the Kens are just… Kens. Their only job is “Beach,” showing that they do not play even a small part in Barbieland society.
Margot Robbie is “Stereotypical Barbie,” or what everyone thinks of when they think of a Barbie doll. However, she starts having irrepressible thoughts of death and even burnt toast, along with the loss of her perfectly arched feet. She visits “Weird Barbie” on the edge of Barbieland, and is told to travel to the real world, and find whoever is playing with her and making her have such odd experiences and thoughts. Finding the human playing with her would close the gate between the two worlds.
Ryan Gosling plays Ken extremely well, and the viewer can understand his and Barbie’s thought processes and character development. At the end of the day, Ken wants his own identity because there is no Ken without Barbie. He tries to do this by introducing patriarchy to Barbieland. He flips society on its head, making all of the Barbies servants to the Kens. He realizes that he actually is “Kenough,” and has an identity that isn’t just “Beach,” and his make-believe girlfriend.
The soundtrack of the film adds to its enjoyability. Artists like Lizzo and Dua Lipa made songs for the movie, and both were able to transport the viewer into Barbieland itself with their upbeat songs and glamorous dance routines.
Barbie is an extremely likeable yet significant movie, highlighting many of the problems women face in the real world by making men face those problems in Barbieland. The Kens in Barbieland are often ignored, unimportant, barely represented in government, and sometimes treated like objects. It makes the viewer uncomfortable, and that is what gets the message across that women have been living this struggle for so long most effectively.
The “Barbenheimer” meme(s) that circulated for weeks prior to the release of the movies built so much more buildup and publicity for them than regular advertising would. Both movies are great, and they compliment each other with their “oppositeness.” That being said, Barbie is the better movie. The characters, soundtrack, and overall “feel” of the film make it a much easier watch than Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer has an extremely heavy and serious tone, and while that is enjoyable for many people, Barbie’s more lighthearted and comical approach make it the better movie.
Colin (Oppenheimer):
On July 21, 2023 Christopher Nolan released his 12th movie, titled Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, and many other star studded actors. The movie follows the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer and his journey to creating the atomic bomb. The movie had a budget of $100 million and has made $650 million in return, ranking 9th of all time for R-rated movies.
Cillian Murphy is Robert Oppenheimer, the protagonist, and gives an Oscar worthy performance throughout the entirety of the movie. The way he is able to portray emotions through nonverbal actions is incredible. Another highlight is Ludwig Goransson, who did the music composition for the movie. The way he is able to give you chills with his excellent song choice and timing is truly incredible. The movie clocks in at 3 hours, and yet it is so entertaining that the viewer does not really notice the runtime.
Around the 2 hour mark, the atomic bomb, the magnum opus of the title character, explodes, and the last hour following its detonation is very eerie. It follows Oppenheimer’s psyche after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and all of the guilt he felt.
A lot of the scenes after the bombing can be very disturbing but also so riveting. The courtroom scenes at the end are so entertaining and interesting to learn about what happened to Oppenheimer after the dropping of the atomic bomb. You also get to learn about the lies people spread about him and how he had to deal with that.
Oppenheimer follows two different storylines, one that is in black and white, and one that is in color. The black and white scenes follow the perspective of Robert Downey Jr’s character, Lewis Strauss, and you see the impact he had on Oppenheimer’s life. The color timeline is through Oppenheimer’s point of view. It is fascinating how the two storylines end up intertwining and impacting one another.
It was really cool to learn about the life of Oppenheimer considering that before this movie, it was not something that was not often talked about . This movie is based on Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s book American Prometheus. The director of Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan filmed on a 70 mm IMAX camera which is one of the highest quality cameras used to film on. This movie is so visually stunning, and it is amazing how Nolan made even the black and white scenes such high quality. One of the most shocking things about Oppenheimer is the fact that even though it is incredibly cinematic and visually incredible, there are no completely whole CGI scenes in the movie.
The ending of Oppenheimer is almost unnerving, leaving the viewer with a lot to ponder. The final scene is one that has already been seen earlier in the movie, but this time it includes a certain piece of dialogue that was excluded in the earlier scene. The ending truly puts into perspective how dangerous the atomic bomb really is. The ending is something that will stay with any viewer for a long time after seeing it.
Oppenheimer is worth being seen on the largest silver screen possible, and is a fantastic movie. One could even make the argument that it is the best movie of the year without much else in close competition. Everything about this movie is fantastic, whether it is the acting, the score, or even the direction of the film. It would definitely not be surprising if this movie gets a lot of attention and praise at the Oscars. This movie has been successful with critics and fans, which is shown through skyrocketing box office figures.
All of the “Barbenheimer” memes have only helped both movies in being incredibly successful. Both movies are good for different reasons but overall, the plot of Oppenheimer is appealing to more people. The message of Barbie is definitely not for everyone and it can be really in your face at times. Barbie also has a really abrupt change in tone that feels really awkward at points. Oppenheimer is an experience that leaves you feeling emotionally drained but also wanting to know what just happened.
