This is a review I am somewhat nervous to write. Barbie and Oppenheimer are undoubtedly the two biggest movies of the year and were released on the same day. This sparked the 'Barbenheimer' trend with many people choosing to watch these two movies on the same day. These two movies are incredibly different, and it is almost impossible to compare them. So of course, I have decided to compare them.

Why don't we start the same way I start all my reviews by outlining the synopsis of each movie? Well, that's the first point of similarity: it is tough to outline both of these movies in one sentence. Oppenheimer follows the story of the American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb. You would wonder why a movie such as this would draw so much attention. Well, the film comes from director Christopher Nolan who is arguably one of the greatest modern film directors being the man behind movies such as The Dark Knight, Interstellar, and Dunkirk. Barbie, on the other hand, literally is a movie about the plastic doll that has been a popular toy for so many generations. However, the film goes beyond that to delve into the complex issues surrounding sexism and gender equality. As I said, both are very complex ideas that take a feature-length film to brush the surface of those issues. 

Let's talk about the actors next. Oppenheimer has some of the biggest names in the movie industry including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh and Cillian Murphy. Whereas, Barbie has two of the most talented stars of this generation of filmmaking: Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. In these movies, you get what you expect. All the actors and actresses in Oppenheimer seem to delve right into their characters to produce the most historically accurate outcome. However, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were both incredible at playing plastic dolls. We all thought Toy Story was the movie about toys coming to life, but these two stars created exactly what we imagined Barbie and Ken would be like in real life. That is one of the things Barbie does so well; it is so perfect at creating the Barbie world and bringing plastic dolls to life.

Both of these movies moved at quite a fast pace, possibly too fast. Barbie seemed to have quite abrupt story changes without much of a leadup to these changes. Oppenheimer similarly moved very fast. This was perhaps one of the mistakes of director Christopher Nolan; he tried to fit too much into the movie. There were three distinct storylines to the movie: the life of Oppenheimer leading up to World War II, the creation of the atomic bomb, and the aftermath of such a historic event. I liked how all these parts were intertwined and the non-linear structure of the movie, but it did feel like we were skipping over parts of the story. It turns out three hours maybe isn't enough to fit in all Nolan wanted to tell.

Aside from producing the actual film, both these movies created some incredible music. Barbie came along with some of the catchiest pop songs of the year that have become some personal favourites. Oppenheimer obviously did not have Dua Lipa to write the music for the movie. Instead, Christopher Nolan brought along Ludwig Göransson who is the composer behind The Mandalorian. I haven't revisited the themes from Oppenheimer since seeing the movie, however, I made a note saying 'good music' whilst watching the movie, so it must have been good.

The next thing I want to talk about is the unexpected explicit elements in the movies and perhaps who these movies are targeted towards. Barbie, whilst rated PG in Australia, had some mild course language and sexual references which felt unnecessary. On top of this, the movie dealt with some very big and complex issues that require a mature audience. Oppenheimer had some very explicit moments. Knowing that the film was rated R in the US, I was expecting a fair bit of profanity and possible sex/nudity. However, a few very visual moments were quite sudden and somewhat unexpected. I wasn't expecting much violence or gore, however, there was one very graphic scene that saw Oppenheimer having visions of what would happen to the victims of a nuclear bomb. Were these parts necessary? I wouldn't say that they were unnecessary but just something to keep in mind before seeing the film.

Speaking of film, one of the things that made Oppenheimer special was that it was filmed on a combination of IMAX 65 mm and 65 mm large-format film, meaning that it was filmed on actual film and not on digital as most modern movies are. This resulted in some film scratches as seen in older movies. It had been said that this movie had to be experienced in IMAX. I saw it in IMAX which I'm not sure was necessary. I don't know a lot about filming techniques but I wasn't sure what made IMAX better than seeing it on a smaller screen. However, the use of traditional film and minimal use of computer-generated imagery caused Oppenheimer to feel like a real film and not something made on a computer which is how so many movies can feel these days. I wouldn't say that Barbie felt like it was created on a computer, but it certainly didn't match the genuine feeling of Oppenheimer. Barbie didn't have or require any big effects so this is one of those elements that is difficult to compare between the movies, however, Oppenheimer just felt so much more planned out and almost more intellectual. Oppenheimer felt like a movie that had had years of work to create the best result possible, whereas Barbie felt like any old movie to come off the Hollywood factory line. That's not to say that Barbie didn't have depth; there is so much more to Barbie than meets the eye.

And this is where I get into the dangerous territory.

Barbie is a very political movie. I think that this explains the current feelings towards the movie. A lot of people have seen it and it's been one of the biggest trends of the year. However, I haven't actually met anyone who adores the film, but I also haven't met anyone who hates it and is speaking against it. Because of the movie's very strong political messaging, anyone who didn't enjoy the movie may be afraid to say they didn't like it because of how they may be viewed by society. I think that Barbie raised some important issues surrounding gender equality but perhaps took it too far. How the movie made fun of men was certainly entertaining but I'm not sure what the intent was. After seeing Barbie, I thought I needed a movie to be a bit less intense; a movie like Oppenheimer! I was also a bit surprised to find that Oppenheimer had some political elements to it as well. However, this political messaging was somewhat of an add-on; an additional message at the end of the movie which is so powerful due to the leadup to that moment. It is not constantly throwing political messaging at the viewer like Barbie.

Going back to something I enjoyed in Barbie: there were plenty of little references to other movies and pop culture. However, I can realise that plenty of these references or jokes went over my head with the girls in the cinema laughing at moments I didn't understand. There were plenty of things in Oppenheimer that also went well over my head. It felt that to be able to watch Barbie you needed to be a girl and to watch Oppenheimer you needed a PhD in physics (or some other science thing).

One final thing I want to talk about is that both of these movies were quite depressing. I was expecting this with Oppenheimer but not with Barbie. After Oppenheimer, I left the IMAX theatre thinking "Woah that was intense, that was full-on, that was depressing, but oh my was that a good movie!" After Barbie, I left thinking "Woah that was intense, that was full-on, that was depressing, I'm actually quite disappointed with that movie." Perhaps those two sentences are the best way to sum up both movies. 

Like these movies, there is so much more to talk about but I have already taken up much of your time, so I will leave it there. I still feel like there was more to say and I don't know if I really conveyed my thoughts best. But if you're confused as to what I'm thinking (and don't worry if you are because I am as well), here's a quick summary:

Oppenheimer = Good.

Barbie = Not good.

Would I watch either or both of these movies again? That's a hard question. Maybe sometime in a few years if I want to look back on the impact of these movies. Should you watch both of these movies? Now that's an easy one: yes. These are obviously the two biggest movies of the year and will both be very influential in the movie world and the world beyond the cinema.

BARBIE (PG)

Director: Greta Gerwig

Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling

Year released: 2023

My rating: 6/10

Compared with...

OPPENHEIMER (MA15+)

Director: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr.

Year released: 2023

My rating: 8.5/10

Review by Tristan Carr

Last edited: 19/11/2023