Tenet Review Thread

So at long last, after many delays and just plain waiting around for theaters in my state to open, I've seen Tenet on the big screen; my first time in a movie theater in seven months. So, was it worth the wait and the potentially life-threatening trip to a theater? Yup.

First off, this movie isn't quite as polished as Nolan's two best blockbusters -- Inception and The Dark Knight -- but that doesn't mean it's any less ambitious. Just like with those films, Christopher Nolan once again infuses his love of cinema into a big blockbuster-level movie that's worthy of the big screen. To borrow a term Nolan himself has used to describe it, Tenet is a very "experiential" movie, but in no way am I using that as an excuse to brush off any potential pitfalls in the script or story -- because the story really had me wrapped up. I'll admit, the script does have a sort of rushed/shaky First Act in the way it puts all the pieces in place to get going (not unlike The Dark Knight Rises), but once it settles into its groove, Tenet is very much the captivating blend of sci-fi thriller and spy action movie that it aspires to be. And while I did the First Act to be rushed, I gotta say, Nolan still knows how to open his movies with a bang.

So, the story. In many respects, it's just as detailed/complex as Inception's, if not more so. But I'm not saying that as a negative. In fact, whereas Inception sort of eased you into the inner workings of its world gradually, Tenet instead just plops you in, gives you a few basics, and then expects -- or demands -- that you keep up from there. However, I think such an approach makes sense here, which leads me to the characterization (or lack thereof) of the lead character played by John David Washington, and how this movie is experiential in nature. Basically, I believe that's on purpose. By giving the lead character no background or unique defining characteristics, not even a name -- he's only ever referred to as The Protagonist -- Christopher Nolan has taken the opportunity and a rather unique approach in really trying to place you as the audience member in the main character's shoes, using The Protagonist almost as an avatar for yourself to be more fully immersed in the world of the movie. Of course, this is just my reading of it, but it's still something that occurred to me upon reflection and has grown on me.

But the story itself is no less compelling because of this. Nolan's working with the mechanics and tropes of the spy movie genre here arguably more than he did in Inception, while offering his own signature spins on them. You of course have your hero spy (The Protagonist), a female compatriot of sorts (Kat) and megalomanical villain (Sator), but with the latter two, Kat isn't a femme fatale and there are motivations to Sator's plot that make him a more interesting villain by the end. There's also Robert Pattinson's Neil, an entertaining character in his own right. Then you layer on all of the sci-fi/time inversion elements on top of that, and you've got yourself one thrilling movie. Now, when it comes to the rules of time inversion here, I understood the basic gist of everything, but there are certain specific details to some of it that are still a bit fuzzy, but I'm sure will clear up on re-watches. The inversion aspect blends in nicely to some of the film's key action scenes, which in and of themselves are expectedly pretty awesome.

When it comes to action, Nolan has definitely improved since his early ones in Batman Begins. From the opening sequence to a truck heist on a freeway and then to when inversion starts to play into them, the action scenes here are highly entertaining and exciting, and staged in such a way that really drives home the value of a theater experience. But never does the action ever feel superfluous. It's weaved into the fabric of the narrative rather fluidly and combined with Ludwig Goransson's sleek, truly spy-like score with just enough of a touch of sci-fi, the action in this movie is never dull to watch. Also, for all the complaining I've heard about the sound mixing on this movie, I have to say...maybe it was just my screening/theater, but I found at least 95-97% of the dialogue here intelligible, except for maybe two or three occasions where any garbling felt intentional.

As much as I liked Tenet -- and I really liked it -- I'm not quite sure I can say I fully loved it. At least not yet. There were certain plot points/twists I found to be predictable, that First Act is still a bit too fast for its own good and some of the plot mechanics weren't entirely clear, however I feel like re-watches will help with some of that. Regardless, Tenet is still very much the kind of ambitious, complex blockbuster we've come to expect from Christopher Nolan and especially in a time like now, such craftsmanship and value cannot be overlooked.