In my end of year round up for 2023, I covered my thoughts and feelings surrounding the more notable entertainment releases of the year, as well as outlining some of my broad plans for 2024. And in terms of recent cinema, I mentioned that in 2024 I would belatedly get around to the cinematic event of the previous year – “Barbenheimer”. I would make the time to watch Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023) and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (2023) when home releases (whether those were physical releases or digital rentals) were available. I didn’t have any concrete plans for watching the two films, but the choice to give myself a year at least meant that I could afford a little wiggle room in case something else came up. At the start of this year I had already been keeping myself busy with music releases on streaming services, as well as getting wrapped up in the latest new games such as Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, but later on in February I decided that I would start doing my homework with one of the films, and then when another opportunity presents itself I’d make room to take a look at the other. At the time of writing, this article is a bit of a scramble of various collected thoughts, and it might end up being a few days in the making before it’s published (depending on when I’m able to complete both of my viewings), but what follows are brief summaries of my experience with Barbenheimer.
Barbenheimer: starting with a bang
My Barbenheimer journey began with Oppenheimer, the Nolan film covering the life of the man who worked on the first atomic bomb. It’s a fascinating tale of the growth of scientific ambition and moralising around the impact of the bomb’s development, intertwined with complex relationships and the conflicts of political beliefs. The story itself has its moments of spectacle and drama – obviously the build up to the drop is what viewers will be waiting for, and this moment succeeds in a pretty astounding sequence. Outside of that event, however, there are still some brilliant shots and suitably moody lighting and camera work. (Also, my meagre audio setup was generally able to survive the sound mix without one thing drowning out another, which is always a bonus.) And I did like the hand-wringing and the moralising and the “how can one man have so much power and responsibility” feeling of some of it. So many of the best moments are “just” conversations in quiet rooms where the tension is almost palpable.
That being said, I did find that even with a three hour runtime it was a little too keen to hit a wide variety of plot points and emotional beats. The density of the subject matter is supported by an insistence to shoehorn an attempt at “nonlinear” delivery of its overall narrative – where the film initially appears to be starting at the end, and then proceeds to hop between events and timelines in the build-up to its conclusion. It was obviously an attempt to create an ambitious overall tapestry and emphasise the shifts in drama and tension between different events, but I felt as though it didn’t always offer enough room for the viewer to spend quality time with one moment or another. Moreover, I can’t help but imagine that some people will only appreciate the bombast, others will only care about the accuracy of the science, and so on. It’s an insane katamari of storytelling, but not all of it may be of interest to everyone. Maybe it could have reduced its scope and ambition and still delivered a compelling story. Overall, however, I can’t say that I disliked the film either and I would still recommend it if you can spare the time.
Barbenheimer: let’s go party
The day after watching Nolan’s film, I rented Barbie online to complete my Barbenheimer tour. After all, a certain series from the likes of Disney and Pixar proved a long time ago that there is mileage in the “toys to life” movie pitch (as well as potential for a story that resonates with all ages and genders.) What begins as a knowingly silly acknowledgement of Barbie’s many incarnations elevating her to an iconic status – whilst the Kens are too busy trying to one-up each other – ends up going on a fairly wild ride of self-discovery that crosses boundaries of the toy world and the real world and calls out the patriarchy, the male gaze, the obvious stereotypes. However, amongst this messaging is a sense that the film never forgets to enjoy itself at the same time – there are lots of knowingly silly scenes with boardrooms of (male) directors trying to manage the potential chaos that could come from this real-world crossover – and there are also plenty of more tender moments that explore themes of identity, and the ridiculous ideals of trying to be the most perfect archetype of everything. It casts a light on how people shouldn’t be defined by status, wealth, or material possessions and should find and define their own identity for themselves – at their own pace, in a way that they’re comfortable with. It identifies the struggle of those who are continually under pressure throughout their lives – those who always feel that as though they can never do enough. And I have to respect that kind of messaging.
Oppenheimer tries to paint a picture of a unique individual by crafting an elaborate tale that jumps across timelines and events; meanwhile, Barbie celebrates the blank canvas of identity and sense of self that everyone starts with. I feel like Gerwig’s film can be watched by anyone and they can take something positive or meaningful from it – but really, both of the films I’ve covered here give viewers some nice bits and pieces to chew on after the credits have rolled. Regardless of whether or not their themes are as complimentary as social media trends would have you believe, they’re both good fun.
No time wasted
I’m sure somebody is already writing in the comments to tell me that I’ve missed the point of one thing or another in one (or both) of the Barbenheimer films – in honesty, I feel like each of these movies is stuffed with enough material to grant viewers the freedom to consider their own impressions… and then self-examine if they feel like it, taking away the messages that resonated with them. I know it probably looks like I’ve given Oppenheimer a bit of a hard time for its format and delivery, but I admire how ridiculously ambitious it is in its efforts to cover so much in such a brave nonlinear manner. And I may have been quick to gush over Barbie’s themes and morals, but there’s nothing stopping you from having a fun time with the characters as well. As I mentioned at the start of this article, I began pulling together some random thoughts that I thought I would stick together when I had finished watching both movies, but I actually ended up watching them over two consecutive evenings. I don’t know how I’d really rate them in an end-of-year round up if I had actually watched them last year, but I don’t feel like my time was wasted with either of the films (even with Oppenheimer’s lengthy runtime.) I’ll hopefully be back with some scrambled thoughts on new games and music in the future, but in the meantime I hope that some of you have enjoyed my rambling about these two films. Maybe they’ll both get sequels and there will be a Barbenheimer 2 trend on social media in the future, but for now I think the existing films have been worthwhile viewings.