Written and Directed by Christopher Nolan
Cast: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Clémence Poésy, Fiona Dourif, Himesh Patel, Dimple Kapadia, Martin Donovan, Michael Caine
Soundtrack: Ludwig Göransson
Let me start with the elephant in the room.
No, not coronavirus. The sound mix.
No doubt, part of my experience may have been due to some venue-specific subwoofer issues, but I’ve seen other complaints about not being able to make out the dialogue, so this appears to be something of a baked-in problem. Even going in armed with this information, and prepared to listen well, it was still a major struggle. I’m guessing TENET didn’t get much audience testing, because, frankly, much of it is as bad or even worse than Bane’s original mix in The Dark Knight Rises. Perhaps it’s not as pronounced of an issue in a regular theater with an unenhanced speaker system (if I see the movie again, it’ll probably be in a smaller venue), but who knows? I wouldn’t mind some subtitles, to be honest.
Thankfully though, Christopher Nolan has enough silent film sensibility that, even without getting a large chunk of the dialogue, I still never felt utterly lost; though I can’t say I have a complete understanding of the film. However, I’d say I have a better handle on TENET after one viewing than I did on Dunkirk after the first time, though I don’t think it’s quite as good.
Before we even get there though, from the jump, people have been comparing TENET to James Bond, but having now seen the movie, I find this argument specious, if not downright lazy. For one thing, most Nolan movies are influenced by Bond, no matter the subject matter, but second, I think Nolan very specifically didn’t want this to be a Bond film (if anything, I’d say the action in this movie is far more Bourne-influenced, just, you know, not awful). In fact, there’s one specific film, that’s not even really a spy movie, that I would compare TENET to (“[title redacted] on steroids” you might say), but to name it outright would be too much of a spoiler (hint: a major player in that movie is related to a major player in TENET).
But enough criticism. Let’s get to the good stuff.
As we’ve some to expect, if nothing else, I appreciate Nolan’s effort to capturing things in the camera lens as much as humanly possible. Someone else could have made this movie, no doubt for a lot cheaper, and filled in scenes with CGI rather than real extras and practical effects, but it just would not have looked the same. We’ve become so accustomed to computer generated sets and people that simply seeing dozens of actual humans on screen, in a real location, is visually striking (not unlike Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood).
And speaking of humans, there are actually multiple performances worth mentioning here. For one, John David Washington. If he didn’t already win you over in BlacKKKlansman, he’s officially putting you on notice now that he is a S-T-A-R. I seriously could not get enough of him. Also, Robert Pattinson, as I’ve come to expect, turns in another compelling performance (and I’m guessing he got to have even more fun than usual, not having to deal with the extra layer of an American accent [not that he isn’t great at those]). And, finally, Kenneth Branagh gives the movie some real weight; I mean, I loved him for his five-or-so minutes in Dunkirk, but this is the best acting work I’ve seen from him in years.
Overall, I guess I have paradoxical thoughts on TENET, which is somewhat appropriate. On the one hand, it doesn’t feel like the most original Nolan movie, because it’s kind of a spiritual sequel to Inception the way The Fury is to Carrie for Brian De Palma; and yet, there are elements of it that still feel, if not groundbreaking, at least new for Nolan.
It’s a lot, it’ll overwhelm many, but, despite the runtime, I was never bored, and that pays off many debts.
Rating: ★★★★☆