Barbie/Oppenheimer DOUBLE FEATURE REVIEW

Akin to how Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s “Grindhouse” double-feature in 2007 gave the world two films for the price of one, we’ve seen the same thing happen once more, with Christopher Nolan and Greta Gerwig teaming up to give us Oppenheimer, and it’s sequel, Barbie, all in one go.

Where the films compatibility is concerned, it must be said that, for a self-proclaimed sequel, Barbie doesn’t do a great job of continuing the storylines or building upon the characters portrayed in the first film. Or so the naysayers may tell you. However, upon closer inspection, it can become clear that Oppenheimer and Barbie are merely two sides of the same coin, and compliment each other perfectly.

Oppenheimer, telling the story of the creation of the atomic bomb, marks perhaps Christopher Nolan’s finest achievement in filmmaking, a 3-hour epic with blistering momentum, spearheaded by both flawless acting performances and technical brilliance, such to make it an incredible experience, rather than just an incredible film. It is also an achievement in remarkable subtlety and restraint, a film that asks all the right questions while refusing to give black-and-white answers, and a film that treats its audience with upmost respect, never once being in-your-face, rather providing just enough information to be able to comprehend not just the scale of the achievement but also the gravity of the outcome.

Come the end of the film, the titular character voices the dread that the accomplishment he spearheaded may have brought us closer to the end of the world. This is one way in which the films begin to mirror each other quite nicely as while Oppenheimer tackles a character wrestling with the potentially catastrophic impact they may have had on the world, Barbie finds its lead coming to terms with the fact that she hadn’t had a unanimously positive impact on the world in the way she had dreamed about.

Directed by Greta Gerwig, Barbie is a well-crafted adventure-turned-meta-comedy that takes a lot of risks. Margot Robbie’s performance helps add warmth to the film’s more serious turns while grounding the more fantastical moments and Ryan Gosling is an absolute joy to watch, with his all-encapsulating portrayal of a guy who’s ‘just Ken’ drawing comedy with every minor action. The comedy in Barbie lands more often than not, with a mixture of slapstick and surreal, and the quirky set design and colour palette adds a lot of intrigue while evoking the nostalgia that many audience members will hold for the franchise.

The Mattel-produced film takes a surprisingly nuanced approach to their own creation, acknowledging the damage that Barbie had done to the self-image of generations of girls, and showing an appreciation for the aspects of womanhood that the Barbie universe had up to now ignored or misrepresented, all the while being very self-deprecating in the depictions of their own company in the movie, remarking on the absurdity of them having a male-dominated board of directors. While Oppenheimer exercised subtlety in pulling its punches, Barbie goes completely the other way with an in-your-face-and-then-some approach, and while this may be appropriate given the lower age of its audience and the extravagance of Barbie, the messaging does end up becoming congested to the point of causing whiplash in the final act, barely giving you enough time to take in one message before you’re being slapped in the face with the next inspirational quote.

For anyone in the mood for an existential crisis, get on down to the cinema because both films have a lot to contribute. Oppenheimer remarks on the futility of civilians in wartime, with lives upon lives hanging on pre-determined whims so far out of their reach its incomprehensible, and also the fragility of any society that possesses the power to destroy itself. On a cheerier note, Barbie explores how even utopias can be destroyed by a lust for power, and portrays characters wishing to trade away immortality for a chance to live an authentic human experience. Really fun stuff all round.

I expect there to be awards buzz for both films, Oppenheimer should get coverage across all major categories, with Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon, and Jason Clarke all grabbing supporting actor noms if I had my way, and the film may well emerge a frontrunner for best picture. Barbie should scoop up set/costume design nominations (and likely wins), and sheer buzz may well push it into the best screenplay/best picture categories, with a Ryan Gosling nomination also a strong possibility.

A very strong double feature, with Barbie vast exceeding expectations, and Oppenheimer standing out as one of the greatest cinematic experiences in years. Not to say either is without its flaws however. Oppenheimer’s third act maybe extended a bit too long and the film at times suffered from the Tenet problem of an overblown score. More criminal however were the film’s not-so-subtle nods to each other. In Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy’s line of “I am become Barbie, destroyer of worlds…wait that didn’t sound right” was particularly grating, but didn’t leave quite as bad a taste as the scene in Barbie where Kate McKinnon produces a map of Barbieland and begins identifying potential targets for a nuclear strike, only to say when questioned “Ignore me, that’s a different role I was auditioning for”. Yikes.

So was Barbenheimer a success? Absolutely. Should it be replicated? Questionable. In the midst of all the buzz, it’s easy to forget why these films were so attractive in the first place: both covered topics that many people already would have held strong feelings towards, one featured an established, all time great director, while the other had a director on an up-up-and-up trajectory, both had impressive ensemble casts and both films had lead stars in the absolute prime of their careers. These are the factors that need to be considered if rival studios ever wish to create this wave of hype for two of their films; we’re not going to see Paw Patrol and Saw movies just because you release them on the same day.