TENET (2020)

TENET (2020)

Oh man…so in a perfect world, I wouldn’t be writing this review right now. I might wait a week, since the docket of movies I do have lined up to review is long and winding. However, because TENET is so freakin complex in its concepts (for such a simplistic plot) I thought writing this now would be the best choice. The movie is still fresh in my inverted head. 

In this movie there is a group from the future called TENET. Like Time Lords only less sci-fi and more militant. They can manipulate time by inverting it. In a sense they can travel back in time by simply using a technology that hasn’t “technically” been invented yet. This is because TENET exists in the future and is able to send operatives and their tech back in time. Sometimes those operatives inadvertently run into themselves. The main goal of TENET is to stop a bunch of crazy stuff from happening due to use of these “time inversion” devices, but this movie centers around a dude called The Protagonist who is just trying to do something really simple. Like prevent the entire world or universe from collapsing in on top of itself. In spite of this explanation, the main plot of the movie is just that a high end James Bond type, played by John David Washington, is going to save the world from a Russian psychopath. When you look at what actually unfolds for what it is, the story is pretty basic. 

What is not basic at all is how the time inversion works on a grand scale or how it can be controlled. Like do these giant devices have like a “popcorn setting” and that transports you 5 minutes back…then like a “turkey leg” setting that takes you back days? Why do you sometimes not even seem to need a device? Like a few of Nolan’s films, the whole idea is to get the audience to wonder and speculate till their brains explode. Oddly, I didn’t find any of that necessary. If you pay attention you will be delighted by the little details you missed the first time these events are visited. That is all I will say about that. This is one of those movies that is far more enjoyable if you are focused.
 

Acting wise John David Washington as The Protagonist, Robert Pattinson as Neil, Elizabeth Debicki as Kat and Kenneth Branagh as Andrei Sator (the biggest jerk in the movie) are freakin phenomenal. The sets are pretty great and there are a few scenes that are just really well designed that make this stand out not just on concept but on cinematic merit. We also get a Himesh Patel sighting who I think is just a great actor. You might know him from YESTERDAY. 

One thing to look out for is a really annoying soundtrack jam packed with horns and violent high school band members stomping down on their instruments. This seems to be a staple of director Christopher Nolan’s that isn’t going anywhere. In spite of some complaints, I am deaf in one ear and still “heard” every bit of dialog. That still doesn’t fix the “doom” aesthetic in this thing, that at times becomes overbearing. He’s just picking up his coffee Christopher, for Pete’s sake, put down the freakin foghorn for a second. For these reasons, and the fact that this movie runs 2 and a half hours and still left so much on the cutting room floor in the way of explanation to how all this crap works on a macro-level. 

I have to give TENET a 5 out of 7. I'm going to have to watch it again a few times to try and capture some of what I very likely missed, but I don’t know if this will be one I got to time and time again afterwards.
 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF WARNER BROTHERS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.  

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