‘Tenet’ is the 11th feature film by visionary director Christopher Nolan, starring John David Washington, Kenneth Branagh, Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki. It details the story of an unnamed CIA operative, who is recruited by a mysterious organisation to partake in a mission that unfolds beyond real time.
Firstly, a note on the performances. John David Washington is just as compelling a lead as he is in Blackkklansman, but adding to that he also he proves himself as a very believable action star, taking on and destroying thugs left and right throughout. Robert Pattinson also holds his own as Washington’s partner on this mission, with his suave manor combined with the delivery of believable and gritty action scenes convincing me beyond doubt that he is going to be a great batman in Matt Reeves’ upcoming film. Kenneth Branagh is very sinister and menacing as the villain, chewing up the scenery, and you really buy into him as the figurehead of the evil that is occurring. His wife, played by Elizabeth Debicki was excellent I thought, she plays a cunning but also vulnerable character well, and her love for her son was a good emotional thread for the movie (although it wasn’t explored quite enough in my opinion).
Another positive, which is absolutely no shock at all, Tenet looks incredible. Some of the reversal of time action scenes, I genuinely have no idea how they were shot, they look amazing. And these elements are only enhanced by Nolan’s want to shoot on location and use practical effects.
Following on from this, let’s talk about the time travel element, as it is the plot of the movie. It’s well known by now that Christopher Nolan doesn’t shy away from complex concepts, and I’d be willing to say this is probably his most complex film to date. While I completely admire his puzzlebox way of filmmaking and his attempts to have original takes on things we’ve seen before, I do think Tenet, for me at least, was very tough to follow. Sometimes I think in, for example, ‘Inception’, he is too exposition heavy with his dialogue, but in this film, he goes the other end of the spectrum completely and gives the audience nearly none at all. Without giving anything away, there were points midway through where it all seemed clear, complex but I had finally understood it all, and then another element would come to the table and would for the next half an hour leave me feeling a little bit lost. Tying in with this, (again no spoilers) but some rules regarding the time travel didn’t seem to have consistency with one another. Part of the enjoyment of the film is the jumping back and forth between the past and the future, but I do believe there reaches a point where it crosses the line from being complex to being convoluted. This in turn means these amazing action scenes had a bit less weight to them, because I didn’t fully know what was going on and some character motivations became too hard to track, Robert Pattinson’s character ‘Neil’ especially.
Despite the pieces of ‘Tenet’ not all coming together to form a cohesive whole for me, I still thought it was a very enjoyable action movie with solid performances all across the board and incredibly well directed sequences. I do want to see the movie again and maybe I would have a better grasp of it on the second viewing, but as stated my major negative for ‘Tenet’ is that it was just very hard to follow at times, and with a bit more clarity to the plotline, these incredible action scenes would have hit home a lot harder for me, as I’d have been much more aware of what exactly was happening. I love Nolan’s complex ideas but this one did fall into convolution for me, which is a big shame but in a world full of constant sequels and reboots, Nolan is as ambitious and original as they come, and I admire him for taking a risk even if it didn’t come off to the fullest.
7/10
CinemaStance 