Tenet

Ten Second Review: Cinematic spectacle may blind people to the film’s definite faults, but this is not a film to miss while it’s in theatres.

It’s difficult to review a film that is as anticipated as Tenet is. You know that your own anticipation may effect your view of it and if you deeply desire to enjoy the film, especially after the drought of new cinema of the past 5 months, then you may forgive certain things that you’d hold against other films.

DON’T WORRY! As the story is shrouded in mystery, I won’t go any further than the trailer does. 

We follow our nameless agent protagonist (John David Washington) as he learns that at some point in the future people have found a way to reverse an objects entropy. As the world moves forward, some objects are moving backwards and the protagonist will have to work out how to navigate the world both ways to save it.

I liked Tenet. I would even dare to say that I loved it. Nolan is a master of mind bending concepts that remain true to their own rules and this consistently makes for engaging and intriguing films. He is also king of the practical effects and adept at knowing how to slip CGI in seamlessly to enhance the story. The cast, for the most part, are brilliant and the music deserves special recognition as it really brings the film together. The editing keeps the film’s pace on the move and feels smooth even during seemingly jarring scene cuts. Overall, as visual cinema, Tenet is incredibly rewarding to watch and guessing where it’s going is as fun as you might imagine.

However, while I may have loved the concept and overall experience, that does not free the film from valid criticism.

My gripes with the film number only two. There are a few little questions I have, but I trust that should I ever be in a position to ask, Nolan would have retorts and explanations to these. My two problems run a little deeper. 

The first is Nolan’s scripts. To be clear I say Nolan and not Tenet as I feel this problem actually goes beyond this film. He seems to have a tendency toward predictably cheesy and often rather dull dialogue writing that almost forces actors, especially those that aren’t the best, into a position of looking a bit naff. His cinematography and the awe of his film’s themes often disguise this, but when you’re really listening, it can actually be quite boring writing. Obviously allusions to this film’s script might give a way plot points so I will refrain, but looking back I think audiences rewatching some of Nolan’s films will find themselves scoffing from time to time. There is a reason why Bale’s Batman formed into a meme of using as few words as possible but outside of Gotham you can’t really get away with it.

The second is that the film lacks message. I know, they tack one on at the end, but this doesn’t really pass muster. Normally this isn’t a necessity for a film, but Nolan clearly has the ability to do it and we’ve seen him do it the Dark Knight Trilogy and in Interstellar too. By nature of this ability and the attention his films receive. A throw away one line moral is rather disappointing.

That being said, if you feel comfortable enough and if you feel your cinema is successfully distancing people, go and see Tenet. This is event cinema that will suffer from a small screen and tinny audio. If your local cinema (or more likely, your local multiplex) has one of those fancy Super Screens with the enhanced audio then spring for those tickets, but whatever the screen, see this is theatres!