Tenet is a new film from the critically-acclaimed director and writer, Christopher Nolan. We haven't gotten a movie from Nolan since Dunkirk which was three years ago. Actually, I think he puts out a movie every three or so years generally. But in any case, it's a Nolan film which means a couple of things: its high budget, it's intellectually challenging, and there's creative fast paced action sequences scattered throughout. This film, however, benefits from an incredibly unique mechanic to its plot. If you've seen the trailer, you'll have surmised that time is a factor. It's time travel, but not in the way you might initially think. It finds a new way to utilize time travel and it has to be one of the best aspects about Tenet.
It almost feels like Nolan knew people would be seeing this after a long break from theaters, cause the film wastes no time in jumping to its action. We start off with an action sequence that takes your breath away. We don't even know who the main character is or what he's there for, but it's a great way to introduce us to him. I don't think he's ever given a name come to think of it. If you look at the IMDB credits, you'll see that John David Washington's character is only labeled as 'The Protagonist', but he is also given the label Tenet. That's not a spoiler, it's in the trailer, but we never learn his name. In fact, we never really learn anything about The Protagonist. We see his forte is in combat and espionage suggesting that he has a military background, but little is offered beyond that. This can be worrisome, however. Because we never really learn about his backstory (or any other traits for that matter), the film risks having no connection between him and the audience, making him uninteresting. Luckily, the film saves itself from this. While we don't know anything about him, we know him through the people he interacts with. We see deeper sides to this character particularly because of the dynamic he shares with one other character. Keeping it vague, this dynamic offers some speculation as to how his life may have been before going on this big, world-saving mission. I have other speculations about him, but those are more in the realm of analysis and not critique.
Let's come back to the opening sequence. We see The Protagonist in the midst of an operation that's obviously high stakes and it sets the tone for the whole movie. One thing leads to another and he wakes up in a bed with a guy telling him "welcome to the afterlife." You would think that because we just got done with an intense opening that we would get a chance to breathe, but nope. Here's where I almost have a problem with the movie. The fast paced nature of the opening carries over into basically the rest of the movie. From the events of him getting recruited as 'Tenet' to the Plane crash that's shown in the trailer, this film absolutely does not let up. You BETTER be in full focus on everything that's happening and every piece of dialogue cause if you look away even for a second you will be left in the dust and there's no hope of catching up. This can be risky because an audience might get tired or bored of playing catch up and just check out completely. I almost did. While I was interested in the inverted time mechanic and we are introduced to it in the beginning, the film waits till a certain point to really start using it. Before that I was ready to clock out, but at that certain point my gears completely switched and I became hooked again. From there, as the visuals and concepts get gradually more complicated, the film manages to find a way to give you a second chance of catching up. While you'll still be confused as to who certain characters are, you know who the bad guy is and you know why he must be taken down. The motivations for the villain can seem vague or just kinda dumb, but I don't think so. It's really just an example of the dangers of letting one guy have too much power, especially with time travel involved. It's almost a similar experience to Inception.
Here's where I've seen some people complain. While the film revolves around its unique "inverted time" mechanic, how it affects the plot and where it takes it supposedly has a lot of similarities to Nolan's 2010 film Inception. It's been a while since I've seen Inception, but after thinking about it, really the only thing I can think of is how both film's climax's play out. There might be more, but I think people are using this "loosely-based sequel" idea as a way to call the film lazy. In my opinion, it's anything but. It's extremely complicated, but one deals with time and the other with dreams and each presents their own critical thinking challenges. It's another mind-bender in the same way that Inception was, but that doesn't necessarily mean some of its ideas were borrowed.
When thinking about it more and more, I've sort of come to realize that there is one tiny aspect that might be present: its predictability. Not in how the story plays out and how it ends, but there's certain moments and certain pieces of backstory that are kept unexplained or a secret. Because of the inverted time mechanic, some aspects can be guessed sooner than the film would like you to. However, maybe I'm clouded. Things are only obvious now because I've seen it. Not to say that I wasn't shocked by its revelations, but I do think there are people who will be able to guess what's going on sooner than expected and maybe that says something about the rate of information given to the audience.
Nolan has provided us with another complete mindf*** of an entry into his filmography. I think this film stands well on its own without being compared to other Nolan films. He has a knack for making his audience think and engaging them in the best possible way. While Tenet may be more intense in that aspect, it's still extremely entertaining. Much like Inception or Interstellar, Tenet will probably require multiple viewings in order to comprehend it fully. I may have some problems with it, but I'm craving a second viewing and I think that says something. If you're itching to start going back to theaters again, this is a great first film to come back to. Granted you follow all the sanitary precautions of course. Don't go for a casual experience. Then again, it's a Nolan film so you probably already know what to expect. 8.5/10
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