TENET review by Mark Walters – Christopher Nolan’s latest epic is his most complicated

TENET review by Mark Walters – Christopher Nolan’s latest epic is his most complicated

After INCEPTION, it’s hard to imagine Christopher Nolan finding yet another way to make a mind-bending genre film that would wow audiences quite the same way… and now here comes TENET. The trailers did a great job of getting us interested without telling us much, which is exactly what a trailer should do. But Covid-19 has made the production’s journey a difficult one, as Nolan insisted this was something that needed to be seen in theaters, and not on a TV via streaming like some major Hollywood releases have resorted to lately. This has also resulted in multiple delays for the release date, and now that movie theaters are finally starting to reopen, audiences will finally be able to catch the film they way Nolan intended for it to be seen. The cast features John David Washington (BLACKKKLANSMAN), Robert Pattinson (THE LIGHTHOUSE), Elizabeth Debicki (WIDOWS), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (KICK-ASS), Michael Caine, Martin Donovan, and Kenneth Branagh. Expect this to be one of the most talked-about films of the year, perhaps both positively and negatively.

We open with an intense attack on an opera house just as a performance is about to begin. It’s here we’re introduced to The Protagonist (Washington), who is attempting to retrieve a CIA asset on site who had his cover blown. In the process, our unnamed operative is captured, tortured, and left for dead. He wakes up back in the hands of the CIA, who inform him that by not talking to his captors, even while facing certain death, he’s “passed the test” in a way, and they assign him a new mysterious mission. He meets a scientist who begins to explain a phenomenon they’re investigating called “inversion”, bullets that are moving backward, allowing someone with a weapon to “catch” them rather than fire them. Artifacts like these appear to have been imbued with some sort of time-reversed energy, and now it’s up to The Protagonist to find out how and why. His journey leads him to Kat (Debicki), an emotionally-tortured wife of a wealthy Russian weapons dealer named Andrei Sator (Branagh), who may be the key to finding out more about the inversion mystery. This mission teams up The Protagonist with another operative named Neil (Pattinson), though it’s unknown who recruited him, and these two must unravel what’s really going on before time runs out.

That description is intentionally vague and tells you very little about the film, but it’s about as concise as I can make it without getting into major spoilers. That’s part of the problem here, as the actual story of TENET is so complex and at times very confusing, making it hard for the audience to enjoy on more than just a visual level. Nolan is a director known for his visionary style and scope, frequently delivering epic films that feel like smart cinema rather than standard popcorn flicks. With something like INCEPTION or even INTERSTELLAR, he’s proven himself someone who can wow us and make us think, all while being very entertained. But as layered as those two movies are, they’re still fairly easy to follow by design, even when they delve into very complex narrative elements. TENET on the other hand struggles to continually explain itself to the audience, while never seeming to give us all of the info necessary to dissect what is actually going on. The exposition (of which there is a LOT) will tell us several things, while seemingly leaving out things we need to fully understand. The basic back story is fueled by elements of a type of time travel and controlling destiny, but it’s by no means a traditional time travel story. Ultimately, this is a movie about war, or rather an impending war, and the consequence of actions and emotions. It’s a hard story to follow making it very hard to enjoy, but the epic scope and impressive style in which it’s presented almost make up for those frustrations.

Part of TENET‘s problem is the casting, which feels more awkward than inspired. John David Washington’s leading man is so disconnected and cold that it’s hard to be invested or sympathetic to him as a character, making the stakes he’s up against less worrisome and more just bizarre. Elizabeth Debicki doesn’t help, as her character is consistently sullen and quiet, and so depressed that it’s hard to understand The Protagonist’s interest or willingness to help her, other than just wanting to hurt her “bad guy” husband. I must be honest, I’ve never much cared for Debicki as an actress, and I’m not sure I understand why Hollywood keeps putting her in these big films… what are they seeing that I’m not? Kenneth Branagh’s villain role feels like pretty standard fare, and something we’ve seen him do before… it’s almost too familiar. Only Robert Pattinson finds any likable qualities playing Neil, a very endearing British operative who at times comes across like more of an actual hero than the hero of the story. Even the great Michael Caine seems a bit miscast in his small role, giving insider tips to The Protagonist over a quick meal, and spouting dialogue that doesn’t feel believable coming out of his mouth… and his scene is SO short, it easily could have been an un-billed cameo.

In many ways, TENET comes across like Christopher Nolan’s attempt at making a James Bond movie, as it has a lot of the same story elements and character tropes you’d expect from a 007 film – imaginative stunts, exotic locales, a Bond villain-like bad guy, big set piece action, and the Bond Girl-like damsel in distress… with the one possible exception of a more fantastical villain plot than anything you’d likely see in a Bond film. There’s even a scene that plays like Q debriefing 007, only in a much more scientific way. But unlike a Bond movie, this is not a very accessible story for the average moviegoer, and will likely leave many in the audience more confused than entertained. I consider myself pretty adept at processing science fiction, cerebral, and fantastical cinema… and even I had a hard time following exactly what was going on, especially in the final 30 minutes of the movie. I was entertained and fascinated by what I was seeing, but I’m not sure I fully “got” it and I’m honestly not sure repeat viewings would help change that. And while I did enjoy the phenomenal and imaginative musical score by Ludwig Göransson (BLACK PANTHER), it falls victim to a frequent problem with Nolan films in that it’s so loud it frequently drowns out the dialogue. The sound balance of the production is very problematic, and I missed quite a few (possibly important) lines as a result. And at two and a half hours, this puzzling production sometimes feels like marathon movie watching.

TENET isn’t a complete loss, there are segments in the film that are really astounding, and the basic ideas within are actually quite fascinating, but the execution is perhaps trying too hard to make sense of something that doesn’t always make sense. There’s a phenomenal low-budget film called PRIMER that came out some years back, which deals with time travel in a very real world scientific way, and relies more on the concepts of physics and science than it does science fiction. In some ways TENET feels like a really big budget take on PRIMER‘s ideas, just not as brilliantly brought together. I’d say it’s worth a look, but know you’ll likely leave the theater equally impressed and frustrated.

TENET opens in theaters September 3, 2020

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About the Author

Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff.