There's a ballfield of opinions on director Christopher Nolan, one of the most honored working today and especially for his unapologetic ambitions and unconventional storytelling: Those that think everything up to Inception is the end of the line in terms of quality, those that believe everything up to The Dark Knight Rises is it, those that love everything he does regardless of how good it is, those that only appreciate his individual films or early prospects, those that think he's overrated to terrible, so and so forth. I've been prodigiously impressed by most of his films to date, even his lower efforts Insomnia and Following that are still prestinely made. Tenet falls into the latter category right between those two just mentioned; style over substance, maddening, but you can't take your eyes off of it.
The Protagonist, played by John David Washington of recent Blackkklansman fame, is the mirror of the audience in this journey of preventing a nuclear holocaust and navigating through a wave of international espionage to do so. With the territory comes the fact that his backstory isn't elaborated on as much; he doesn't have time to reflect on his life or past memories, but the mission and his strive to do good keeps us engaged. John's performance is strong for what he has to work with, body-language driven but also witty and shrewdly tuned. He of course doesn't hold a candle to most of Nolan's other heroes- Interstellar's Joseph Coop and by extension his wonderful daughter Murph, Inception's Dom Cobb, Bruce Wayne/Batman and even Leonard Shelby. Robert Pattinson is irresistible as Protagonist's partner Neil, determined as all hell but also funny. Nolan's regular acting confidante Michael Caine has a small but important role, his most notable scene is imbedded with some British humor (contrary to the IndieWire review that labeled this film "humorless"; seriously, would you use that in a criticism of a Scorsese or Malick movie?). Kenneth Branaugh gives it his all as the antagonist Andrei Sator, whose sinister presence and bits of backstory are thankfully given time to shine. Like our hero though, he doesn't shine as much to Nolan's other excellent villains who have much more character, and his motives are somewhat unintelligible. The best performance is Elizabeth Debicki's Kat, who in some ways being the deuteragonist is an emotionally resonant balance to John David Washington. She needs to be rescued at times, but nonetheless has plenty to do and contributes in battling the main threat to the preservation of humanity. Himesh Patel, Dimple Kapadia and Aaron Taylor-Johnson also have notable presences, though nothing too much comes of them except for Aaron's towards the end.
With Nolan breaking his tradition of usual cinematic reference points for this film, instead this plays somewhat like a Christopher Nolan's Greatest Hits Collection, as somewhat suggested by the second theatrical trailer. There's dating back to the timeline breaking mechanics of Memento, good vs evil in an elaborate and constantly shifting world like in The Dark Knight Trilogy (and another terrifically staged plane crash sequence to add), and of course Inception. This is visually astonishing and dense; if repeat viewings become your gig with this, then I bet there will be many things to gaze at in the time inversion sequences. It makes for some breathtaking action and fighting set-pieces, the sound design adds to how hard the punches are felt and the practicality; including an astonishing battlefield sequence. The score by Ludwig Goransson continues Nolan's usual streak with his composers, (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception and Interstellar being the best for my money).
If you thought that some of his other films like Inception were too complicated, then you'll probably not enjoy this, which makes everything else that came before for Nolan seem like a day at the office. I don't know yet how it will shape in his filmography, but this is by far one that's probably the hardest to grasp. I never had an issue understanding his films nor their sound, even with the enhancements from IMAX technology, but Tenet is the exception to that because a good amount of the dialogue and scenes were hard to follow with the pouncing score and sound design. I hope that he'll improve on this in his next project if he decides to continue this hail mary experiment.
Given the current state of the theater business and how much our culture is shifting, a good getaway to the movies is just what many have been wishing for. Tenet might not be the one we deserve, but the one that's needed. Perplexing and worthy of his slate despite being a lesser outing.
Grade- B/3 out of 4 stars.
The Protagonist, played by John David Washington of recent Blackkklansman fame, is the mirror of the audience in this journey of preventing a nuclear holocaust and navigating through a wave of international espionage to do so. With the territory comes the fact that his backstory isn't elaborated on as much; he doesn't have time to reflect on his life or past memories, but the mission and his strive to do good keeps us engaged. John's performance is strong for what he has to work with, body-language driven but also witty and shrewdly tuned. He of course doesn't hold a candle to most of Nolan's other heroes- Interstellar's Joseph Coop and by extension his wonderful daughter Murph, Inception's Dom Cobb, Bruce Wayne/Batman and even Leonard Shelby. Robert Pattinson is irresistible as Protagonist's partner Neil, determined as all hell but also funny. Nolan's regular acting confidante Michael Caine has a small but important role, his most notable scene is imbedded with some British humor (contrary to the IndieWire review that labeled this film "humorless"; seriously, would you use that in a criticism of a Scorsese or Malick movie?). Kenneth Branaugh gives it his all as the antagonist Andrei Sator, whose sinister presence and bits of backstory are thankfully given time to shine. Like our hero though, he doesn't shine as much to Nolan's other excellent villains who have much more character, and his motives are somewhat unintelligible. The best performance is Elizabeth Debicki's Kat, who in some ways being the deuteragonist is an emotionally resonant balance to John David Washington. She needs to be rescued at times, but nonetheless has plenty to do and contributes in battling the main threat to the preservation of humanity. Himesh Patel, Dimple Kapadia and Aaron Taylor-Johnson also have notable presences, though nothing too much comes of them except for Aaron's towards the end.
With Nolan breaking his tradition of usual cinematic reference points for this film, instead this plays somewhat like a Christopher Nolan's Greatest Hits Collection, as somewhat suggested by the second theatrical trailer. There's dating back to the timeline breaking mechanics of Memento, good vs evil in an elaborate and constantly shifting world like in The Dark Knight Trilogy (and another terrifically staged plane crash sequence to add), and of course Inception. This is visually astonishing and dense; if repeat viewings become your gig with this, then I bet there will be many things to gaze at in the time inversion sequences. It makes for some breathtaking action and fighting set-pieces, the sound design adds to how hard the punches are felt and the practicality; including an astonishing battlefield sequence. The score by Ludwig Goransson continues Nolan's usual streak with his composers, (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception and Interstellar being the best for my money).
If you thought that some of his other films like Inception were too complicated, then you'll probably not enjoy this, which makes everything else that came before for Nolan seem like a day at the office. I don't know yet how it will shape in his filmography, but this is by far one that's probably the hardest to grasp. I never had an issue understanding his films nor their sound, even with the enhancements from IMAX technology, but Tenet is the exception to that because a good amount of the dialogue and scenes were hard to follow with the pouncing score and sound design. I hope that he'll improve on this in his next project if he decides to continue this hail mary experiment.
Given the current state of the theater business and how much our culture is shifting, a good getaway to the movies is just what many have been wishing for. Tenet might not be the one we deserve, but the one that's needed. Perplexing and worthy of his slate despite being a lesser outing.
Grade- B/3 out of 4 stars.