Movie Breakdown: Tenet
Pre-Screening Stance:
The pandemic has really muddied the waters for Tenet. It’s no longer just a movie, it’s been transformed into a bizarre beast due to the incremental release bumps, lofty industry expectations and Christopher Nolan’s insistence that it be seen in a theater. In any case, I’m excited to see it.
Post-Screening Ramble:
If you’re worried about spoilers, you shouldn’t be because 1) I never include spoilers in my reviews and 2) Tenet is just confusing enough that I couldn’t spoil it for you if I wanted to. Now, here’s the gist of the film, John David Washington is “the protagonist” and he’s been tasked with saving the world from a bad guy (Kenneth Branagh) with special tech that can invert time. And what exactly does that mean? Well, don’t think of the time travel stuff in Tenet as being like Back To The Future or Avengers: Endgame where people just zap back to whenever, instead imagine a turnstile that allows its user to start moving in the opposite direction in time. This concept is certainly a bit slo-mo and not very flashy, but trust me when I say that it does give Tenet a completely unique look and feel. Nothing in the film moves like you expect it to – people pick up weapons by dropping them, fire freezes, etc – and there are plenty of wild, disorienting scenes where characters moving forward in time encounter those that are on the inverted path. You will frequently be amazed.
What’s tough with Tenet though is that its plot feels purposely confusing, almost to the point of pretentiousness. Obviously, Christopher Nolan has always loved playing with time and maze-like stories, but his usual level of accessibility is absent in Tenet. This is his enormous spectacle, a full-on technical marvel with a relentless pace and no regard for whether or not you can keep up or understand what’s happening.
Personally, I loved it. I found it to be an awesome, super heady, James Bond-esque affair. However, I’m also aware that it’s a cold, two and a half hour brain stomp, and that’s just not going to land for a lot of people. Your mileage may vary here, folks.
One Last Thought:
A lot has been said about the sound mixing in Tenet. Yes, it’s often hard to hear exactly what the characters are saying, but I feel like there’s a legit “heat of the moment” side to it where you get everything you need from the score and the expressions on their faces. Either way, I get why some would find it frustrating.
One More Last Thought:
Thank goodness for Robert Pattinson. Without his mildly warm character Neil, Tenet would be an even colder experience.
