“Tenet” Movie Review
By Ashton Slaughter
Well… Christopher Nolan has done it again. “Tenet” is another surefire, can’t miss blockbuster. The famous director for movies like- “Inception,” “The Dark Knight” trilogy, “Interstellar” and most recently “Dunkirk,” makes another remarkable action movie with a star-studded cast. The cast was led by John David Washington who, although is mostly known for being the son of legendary actor Denzel Washington, has starred in the Academy Award winning “BlacKkKlansman”, and Robert Pattison, the guy from all the really bad “Twilight” movies and who is in the next Batman movie,… as freaking Batman.
For starters, “Tenet” came out in theaters on September 3, which is when I watched it for the first time, but to get a better understanding I watched this movie a second time. If you’ve ever watched a Nolan movie, you probably understand why I had to watch it at least two times before giving a review over it. This guy is known for having plot twists that can leave a casual viewer confused at times, so you have to expect that going in.
I polled my Instagram followers, asking them what the best movie watching candy is, which ended up being Sour Patch Kids. So naturally, I smuggled in a bag of those, and sat down to catch more things I missed on the first viewing, and enjoyed this wonderful movie again.
The movie starts and BAM… the action is underway. The whole concept of “Tenet” is that objects that we see moving with us in real time, can also move backwards and be sent back THROUGH time (yes, confusing… but stick with me). The Protagonist (Washington) is an agent that, after he proves his allegiance, becomes the head of a mission. From there on, he meets his partner in crime, Neil (Pattinson), as they are the duo throughout the rest of the movie. A main theme of this movie is a line that a scientist said while explaining to the Protagonist how time works, moving forwards or backwards, “Don’t try to understand, feel it,” as it’s so simply but beautifully crafted. If at any point during the movie you’re confused as to what is going on, remind yourself to not try and understand every single detail of the movie, but instead to “feel it,” which, if you’re like me, can be frustrating. Although I know what Nolan’s style of movie is, and although I heard from not only critics but the cast how confusing this movie can be, I still want to know what’s going on. In “Inception” and “The Prestige”, two of my favorite movies by him, the plot twist can be confusing but the plot is more straightforward. In “Tenet” however, I second guessed myself, questioning if I TRULY knew what was happening (don’t get me wrong though, I did).
The fighting choreography is brilliant, as so many of the fight scenes were more like dance numbers than actual fights. The final battle scene in and of itself (like I said, no spoilers), is enough action for me to live the rest of my life knowing I watched that scene. If you want to know how bold Nolan was while directing this movie, he destroyed an airplane. Yes. You read that right. In one scene, an airplane flew into a building (not a spoiler, fret not), and rather than going for the much more expensive CGI option, he just decided to go for the cheaper option— crashing the plane into the building. So, he set up multiple camera angles and crashed a whole airplane.
The way I see it— if you’re someone that likes an action flick, and you don't mind sitting down for two and a half hours to get your brain picked then you’ll love this movie. If you don’t, then this movie might not be your speed, but that’s okay. My biggest complaint with “Tenet” is the sound mixing, a problem that most Nolan movies have— especially in IMAX! If you’re seeing this movie, avoid IMAX at all costs. At times characters’ lines are hard to understand due to the background noise or the score. On the other hand, my biggest positives are the cast, fighting choreography and the feeling. As mentioned before- “Don’t try to understand it, feel it,” seems to be the theme of this movie and I LOVE it. The movie does make you feel a certain way, even if you don’t completely understand all of the interwoven storylines. This is a movie that due to COVID-19, hasn’t put up the box office numbers it should (just passed $300 million), and won’t get all the traction it deserves, although it’s a great movie. The verdict is in-