The summer box office hype has been steady over the past two months with titles like “Indiana Jones” (which was fun, if delivering lackluster results) and “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I” (which was by all accounts a hit) and now we get the unlikely double-header with Christopher Nolan’s harrowing and explosive “Oppenheimer” and Greta Gerwig’s pastel explosion “Barbie.”

Despite the complete opposite ends of the spectrum that these two films occupy, people are flocking to catch both on opening weekend, on the same day, and I couldn’t agree more with the idea.

However, you should really see “Barbie” first. It’s campy fun, if a little surface driven. Then follow it up with the far more intense “Oppenheimer.” You won’t want to watch anything after “Oppenheimer.”

Life in plastic is fine

Whatever you think the “Barbie” movie is, you’ll probably be surprised by at least one thing or another, whether it’s the sudden metatheatrical Helen Mirren narration, the delightfully scene-stealing performance from Ryan Gosling as a Ken, or the surprising heartfelt moments that sneak up on you and may bring a tear or two.

Margot Robbie is perfectly cast as Stereotypical Barbie, that classic OG doll with the bright, mile-wide smile and perfect life in Barbieland that is suddenly upturned when she is forced to venture into the real world in order to save her own. Robbie, who also serves as producer, balances the light and often hilarious moments with the more dramatic moments as Barbie navigates her existential crisis and discovers that all that Barbie stands for (the idea of empowering girls to be whoever they wanted to be) has been forgotten — and that there is more to the world outside her dream house.

Where the film fails the fun premise, and its great lead performances, is with the story itself. Gerwig and writing partner (and husband) Noah Baumbach seem to be more than a little aimless in the point they’re trying to make. No plot line runs much deeper than the very basic talking points of feminism that may have been more impactful 15 years ago and neglected to dig even a fraction deeper than the plasticine world they created, which feels rigid and rushed, with various threads not getting the attention they needed or deserved.

“Barbie” is, however, a lot of fun. I found myself guffawing more than once, with light chuckles throughout. Overall, it feels like many missed opportunities were sideswiped in favor of things such as the admittedly fun ballad of the Kens. The choice undermines a lot of clarity.

Good golly, Mr. Oppie

I realized about three-quarters of the way through this three-hour epic Christopher Nolan drama that my jaw was clenched and I was digging my fingers into my crossed arms. When I breathed, it was only a moment of relief for both myself and the characters on screen, because I knew what would be coming next. It was the atomic test. I knew the repercussions of it, and so do Nolan and his star, Cillian Murphy.

Without a word, the audience is left to feel everything on the historical impact of the atomic bomb itself as well as its impact on Oppenheimer as we’ve come to know him leading up to the blast. That is the kind of film Nolan has delivered in this explosive bio-pic of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Murphy).

The film is told at breakneck urgency and maintains that uneasy pacing throughout. It does it surprisingly well with characters and scenes cutting in and out, furthering the dire dread the scientist and the U.S. felt during World War 2 and after the Manhattan Project. There are so many characters and so much theoretical physics jargon bandied about that it is dizzying, but somehow, Nolan crafts scenes that are full of emotion, and that is what the lay people in the audience grab on to.

Beyond Murphy’s stunning and nuanced portrayal of the complicated scientist (the man is a shoo-in for award season), Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss and the rest of the featured cast deliver the goods.

Refreshingly, Nolan and his team don’t rely on CGI for their shots. The film is richer for it, with no jarring effects to mar the drama. And he equally brings a script that is rich with his typically brilliant direction. There are moments that feel too rushed, such as Oppenheimer trying to poison one of his professors, and his womanizing. Likewise, there are stories that aren’t included in the narrative, such as the impact on the communities outside of Los Alamos as a result of the nuclear testing, specifically area Indigenous communities.

In the end, though, “Oppenheimer” is a nearly perfect film that has a clear and present message about the world that was ushered in 80 years ago: We should heed the mistakes of the past.

Overall, it feels like many missed opportunities were sideswiped in favor of things such as the admittedly fun ballad of the Kens.

“Barbie”

114 minutes

Rated PG-13 for suggestive references and brief language.

3 stars

“Oppenheimer”

180 minutes

Rated R for some sexuality, nudity and language.

4 stars