Tenet
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
By Lucas Allen
The most anticipated film of the year especially during the ongoing pandemic, Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” is presented on the big screen the way the auteur himself has always intended. Whether or not it will save the American box office is a whole other discussion, but it’s important to understand what this movie is about before going in. It’s certainly in the spirit of the director’s Oscar-winning blockbuster “Inception,” where he brings his own ideas to the action-genre heavily influenced by the spy film.
An undercover agent simply named The Protagonist (John David Washington) is recruited by a shadowy organization called Tenet for an important mission. However, it involves time inversion where any object can be moved in reverse rather than forward. He teams up with a fellow agent named Neil (Robert Pattinson) to uncover an insidious plot by Russian arms dealer Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh), who can communicate with the future. To stop the villain, The Protagonist has to ally with Sator’s abused wife Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) in order to get closer with the villain’s plan.
As the plot thickens, more and more information come to light from the agents’ mysterious handler Priya (Dimple Kapadia). It also gets dangerous when our heroes not only have to protect Kat, but also save the future of humanity from Andrei’s scheme. This leads to a climactic battle where time moves forwards and backwards, but the world’s fate hangs in the balance.
Basically, this film can be seen as a mashup of “Mission: Impossible,” “Back to the Future” and the “Call of Duty” video games. Nolan packs his script with complex dialogue and exposition that you have to pay attention and keep your mind open through the film’s two-and-a-half hour runtime. Characters speak so much about what the story wants you to believe is scientific can get so confusing at times that you’ll wish for extra side notes for each scene. But if you accept it enough after many scenes, you’ll likely enjoy more of the action.
The one thing the movie sold very well from the marketing is the rich splendor that you can tell where the budget went. The stunning cinematography and beautiful exotic locations help enhance the big screen experience it was meant for. Not to mention, most of the action and effects were accomplished in-camera rather than CGI. Watching an actual 747 jet crash into a building brings to mind the big-budget, old Hollywood filmmaking of yesteryear that you almost couldn’t do nowadays. It’s a testament to how talented and creative Nolan brings to his films.
Washington does some good work here giving a very charismatic performance, while Pattinson also charismatic lends some genuine comic relief to the action. Much like his performance in “Wild, Wild West,” Branagh is having a jolly good time playing the villain chewing up each and every scene he’s in. Though her character is underwritten, Debicki still gets to take part in some of the action including the exhilarating climax. Nolan regular Michael Caine has a one-scene cameo, so don’t expect anything profound like his Alfred role in “The Dark Knight Trilogy” out of that one scene.
“Tenet” is at its best your typical Nolan movie, but it’s not one of the director’s best. In spite of the fantastical elements, the story seems to be more interested in the complexities of its universe to the point of confusing its audience. Then again, this is one of those films that can be seen more than once to better understand every clue and plot thread some viewers may have missed the first time. For that, the big screen experience is highly recommended.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, some suggestive references, and brief strong language)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.5 Stars (Out of Four)
