Tenet
Christopher Nolan’s latest event movie has a unique place in history. Never before has a single film held the onerous responsibility of attempting to reopen the doors of movie theaters around the world. After six months of delayed releases or quick drops to streaming services, “Tenet” feels like a raised fist in the air to the oppression of adversity. And frankly, we’re all a little ready for a new wind to blow our way.
In sweeps, “Tenet” is one of Nolan’s most intense and most convoluted stories to date. This story picks up where “Inception” and “Memento” leave off, and seems to want to outdo them both. There is time travel, paradoxes, and universal consequences that keep the viewers on the edge of their seats. Antagonists and Protagonists are able to move forward and backward in time, in a chess match that pivots every time new information is introduced into the story (which is often). There is so much exposition that I thought the end credits would contain some qualifying remarks. Nolan relishes kicking up dust to keep the audiences confused with thickly accented dialogues being drowned out with pounding sound effects and music. This leaves most viewers with just enough information to keep up, but nothing more helpful than that. What lies under this brain-strain of an experience, is a mind-bending brilliantly thought out puzzle that Nolan has made his signature move in film making. And in that, “Tenet” does not disappoint.
Nolan pulls out all the stoppers from innovative car chases to intricate gravity defying fight sequences, most of which are done practically without the aide of CGI or green screens to give it a feel of authenticity so often missing from most Hollywood blockbusters these days. No one invests more personally into the film than our hero, John David Washington (Protagonist), who covered so many of his own stunts and fight sequences that he makes Tom Cruise look like an extra. He’s a CIA man who finds himself forced to swallow his cyanide pill to protect his fellow agents from being discovered only to wake up and find himself a trusted part of a new secret level of agents. After being paired up with an English counterpart, (Robert Pattinson), the two gallivant around the world on the trail of a weapons dealer billionaire (Kenneth Branagh) and some very unusual weapon technology, known as inverted entropy.
What Nolan does so brilliantly, is construct stories with impossible timelines and weave them in and out with possible timelines and then unfold them to the audience out of the normal sequence; often leading to series of reveals that are intriguing and perplexing in their ingenuity. “Tenet” feels more action driven than it’s cerebral big brother “Inception” which contains a dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream scenario. This time around, the blue battle squad is moving forward in time while the red battle squad is moving backwards in time and they are all fighting the base defenders who are somewhere in between.
Washington is a great action hero and charismatic as the nameless Protagonist if not a little underplayed. He and the billionaire’s wife, Kat (Elizabeth Debecki) don’t really have much romantic chemistry. Their flirtatious moments are awkward at best, but they are more bonded by shared desperation than attraction. Branagh’s evil Sator is a bit over the top as the villian who makes decisions more for what’s best for the movie’s visuals rather than than his own goals (ie. racing a luxury catamaran in order to have a private conversation). Pattinson, as usual, doesn’t overwork himself, but fortunately for him his character, Neil, is intriguing because of his situation more than his dialogue.
For die-hard movie-goers and Nolan fans who enjoy untangling his puzzles, this movie does not disappoint. It is thickly layered and complex enough to require more than one viewing to take in. The action sequences are well thought out and breath-taking in scope. The story is well executed and the acting, although not academy award level, gets the job done. For the more passive movie goers who would rather relax and let a story play out, this film might be much more work to follow than preferred.
The PG-13 is well earned with violence, intense action sequences and the “F-bomb”, which gets unnecessarily thrown in for good measure. Nolan, as usual, is restrained with gore and sexuality, but the sheer volume of suggested violence (mostly unseen) is enough to keep it just shy of an “R” rating.
Written by David Alford
Score: 90 out of 100
Parents: Yes!
Teens: Yes!
Children: No! (Too violent and confusing)
Tots: No!
