Published Date: 19/07/2023

Barbie and Oppenheimer First Reviews 

Yes, the day so many of us have been waiting for is nearly upon us – Friday sees the release of both Barbie and Oppenheimer...it’s Barbenheimer day!

Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird (2017), Little Women (2019)) and Christopher Nolan’s (The Batman trilogy, Inception (2010), Dunkirk (2017)) films have fantastically been dubbed Barbenheimer and the rather bizarre twinning of the two films - the first live-action Barbie film and the father of the atomic bomb, Robert Oppenheimer - has taken the film world by storm.

So, ahead of the official reviews, what are the first feelings on social media from those lucky enough to have seen the films; has all the excitement been well-founded?

Barbie

ScreenRant

Barbie caught me off guard and I mean that in the best way possible. It’s funny, bombastic, & very smart. Greta Gerwig aims for the fences & hits a home-run. Margot Robbie’s performance is great and Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu are pure entertainment! The whole cast is brilliant!

ComicBook.com

Barbie is currently my favourite film of the year. Greta Gerwig somehow exceeded my expectations. She tackles the positives and negatives of Barbie so beautifully. Give Ryan Gosling an Oscar nomination, I'm dead serious!

Pay and Wait 

#BarbieTheMovie is witty, heartfelt, and downright fun at times. Ryan Gosling is a scene stealer delivering most of the laughs while Margot Robbie’s heartfelt performance will tug at your heartstrings.

Variety

Barbie is perfection. Greta Gerwig delivers a nuanced commentary on what it means to be a woman in a whimsical, wonderful and laugh-out-loud funny romp. The entire cast shines, especially Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in roles they were clearly born to play.

The New York Times

Further BARBIE thoughts to come but the number one is I can’t believe Greta Gerwig got away with it! (said admiringly)

Oppenheimer

The Los Angeles Times

Oppenheimer is arguably Nolan’s most impressive work yet in the way it combines his acknowledged visual mastery with one of the deepest character dives in recent American cinema.

Total Film

Oppenheimer left me stunned: a character study on the grandest scale, with a sublime central performance by Cillian Murphy. An epic historical drama but with a distinctly Nolan sensibility: the tension, structure, sense of scale, startling sound design, remarkable visuals. Wow

I think we can safely say let you can let your excitement run free.

Associated Press

Christopher Nolan’s #Oppenheimer is truly a spectacular achievement, in its truthful, concise adaptation, inventive storytelling and nuanced performances from Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon and the many, many others involved - some for just one scene.

The Sunday Times

Totally absorbed in OPPENHEIMER, a dense, talkie, tense film partly about the bomb, mostly about how doomed we are. Happy summer! Murphy is good, but the support essential: Damon, Downey Jr. and Ehrenreich even bring gags. An audacious, inventive, complex film to rattle its audience

Vulture

OPPENHEIMER is...incredible. The word that keeps coming to mind is "fearsome." A relentlessly paced, insanely detailed, intricate historical drama that builds and builds and builds until Nolan brings the hammer down in the most astonishing, shattering way.

Yes, we can safely say that your excitement levels can go through the roof. Roll on the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer.

Barbie and Oppenheimer open at Showcase on Friday, with tickets available here:

BOOK BARBIE TICKETS

BOOK OPPENHEIMER TICKETS