Also, be prepared to return for a second viewing as soon as possible. Writer/director Christopher Nolan’s newest, delayed by the pandemic and opening in Canada ahead of its U.S. release for similar reasons, is a mind-bender, a head-scratcher or a brainteaser, depending where you fall on the Cartesian spectrum. Filmed in Italy, Estonia, India, Norway, the UK and the US, it’s a globetrotting espionage extravaganza that does … Christopher Nolan gives us his take on a spy thriller. Tenet is Bond without the baggage. Read full review. (I started this review with the intention to avoid major spoilers, only to realize that to truly spoil the movie I’d have to understand it, and I’m not there yet.) Opening Aug. 26 … Audience Reviews for Tenet. Debicki telegraphs fire roiling beneath ice, her 6ft 3in frame deployed to practical effect in a scene that sees her manoeuvre her way out of a locked car. Tenet movie review: Pay attention to the seconds and the hours take care of themselves Channelling a stoic blankness… John David Washington as ‘the Protagonist’ in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. The athleticism of former American football player Washington is harnessed for big action sequences, but Nolan mutes the actor’s natural charisma. Tenet This is the same kind of deal. Cinemas will not necessarily play a … Nolan enlists box-office draw Robert Pattinson (camp and sweaty in a linen suit) as the Protagonist’s accomplice, Neil. Tenet Multiplexes are banking on audiences weighing up the relative risk of returning to the pictures. The first is the “understand it” tier, with discussions about a coming war being waged by our own descendants, with weapons, money and information flowing like temporal contraband from the future. “People who’ve amassed fortunes like your husband generally aren’t OK with being cheated out of any of it,” the Protagonist warns Kat, but the film is not a critique of the moneyed class. Christopher Nolan's latest is a thrilling but safe espionage flick with a novel approach to time. The best take I’ve come across in the last 1,700 years is from Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis, who wrote: “What, then, is time? How well you engage with the philosophical side of This more visceral track also includes a catamaran race, a car chase with backward spinning vehicle, and a climactic battle scene, all teased in the trailer. Tenet is a movie laden with expectations. All that mattered was that he got it and Scaramanga didn’t, right? Tenet is a big movie (shot on a mixture of Imax cameras and 70mm film) with a big budget (reported at around $200m/£153m), which is designed to be seen on the big screen. The word tenant means one who resides in a place long enough to pay rent. Except the film is too self-consciously “elevated” to work as a big, fun, dumb action movie satisfied with saving humankind. Tenet thus operates on two levels, sometimes simultaneously. Dialogue is mumbled and obscured by the metallic sound design and the twitchy, plucked electronic strings of Ludwig Göransson’s score. To even begin to get your head around this, recall the grandfather paradox, in which you travel back in time to kill your grandfather – but if you succeed, you’re never born, so you can’t perform the hit. As a strategy of film-making, it’s a supremely confident one and in parts Nolan pulls it off. It’s about time. Just not yet. Another there-and-gone character is Clémence Poésy, a scientist who explains that the bullet we saw being sucked out of a wall in that opening scene is an example of an object that has been (or will be?) Tenet is a 2020 science fiction action-thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who produced it with Emma Thomas. The irony is that he doesn't want you to be able to rewind it. Here are my thoughts on the new Christopher Nolan film, Tenet! Washington, or “the Protagonist”, as he is referred to in the credits, is tasked with saving the world. This is where Washington’s character recruits Neil, played by Robert Pattinson, who at 34 seems to be slowly turning into Jeremy Irons. Understanding is not expected; the viewer is kept in their place. Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/joshmatthews/Sign up for my newsletter. before it … Nolan seems to be saying the same thing, encouraging the audience to trust the film’s beats and to feel its impact on a gut level. Memento A stoic blankness is required and so Washington dutifully channels it. Its adherence to the idea that life can only be understood backwards ties it to the director’s 2000 breakthrough, Mathematical patterns are the organising principles of Nolan’s oeuvre, tenets, if you will. At stake is a weird metal box that looks a bit like an industrial strength hard drive. in 1985. Of course, not every critic gave Tenet a four or five star review, with a few feeling Nolan wasn’t quite up to scratch this time around. 1 being least likely, and 10 being most likely, Christopher Nolan and his cast discuss the making of Tenet. Nolan’s desire to stimulate both the blood and the brain feels earnest. The Guardian's Catherine Shoard says the flick is a "pandemic dud" and that she's not even sure "in five years’ time, it’d be worth staying up to catch on telly." Here's my review for TENET!#TENET It also gives Washington the chance to flirt and spar with Kat and Andrei, respectively. La Jetée Tenet’s financial stakes couldn’t be higher. Viewer response to “Tenet” will come down to how much one engages with that momentum. Meanwhile, audible conversations are shot so to deliberately disorient and dazzle the viewer. Share on Twitter. Cinematographer and frequent collaborator Hoyte van Hoytema shoots in Imax 70mm for maximum immersion (though the format feels better utilised in their 2017 war epic Dunkirk). The Protagonist also encourages us to “have faith in the mechanics of the world”. Huh? If this is a metaphor for the mechanics of cinema, it’s a cynical one that assumes the masses are easily impressed – and all too easily manipulated. Wasteful, given the buddy-comedy chemistry that shines through in his scenes with Pattinson, a welcome break from the otherwise po-faced proceedings. And its Möbius-strip plot make the loopiness of 2010’s The word tenet refers to a core principle or belief held by a person or contained in a philosophy. A tenet is a presumption that something is true. n Christopher Nolan’s latest head-scratcher and surely the summer’s most awaited film, Russian gazillionaire Andrei Stor (Kenneth Branagh) has access to a nuclear weapon that could annihilate the planet. Unlike in Nolan’s Batman films, Tenet’s misanthropic villain happens to be self-made. Think Memento’s non-linear structure, the doubling motif in The Prestige or the geometric illustration of time in Interstellar. The imagination to conceive this story alone deserves a standing ovation. The Guardian Peter Bradshaw Aug 25, 2020. “We’re the people saving the world from what might have been.” “Ignorance is our ammunition.” “We live in a twilight world.” “And there are no friends at dusk.”. In Christopher Nolan’s latest head-scratcher and surely the summer’s most awaited film, Russian gazillionaire Andrei Stor (Kenneth Branagh) has access to a nuclear weapon that could annihilate the planet. And at two and a half hours, it may make you feel like a permanent resident of whatever cinema you see it in. In Choose a comfortable seat. Far more satisfying, at least in the moment, is the “feel it” level of the movie. “Don’t try to understand it – feel it,” explains Laura to the Protagonist as he attempts to wrap his brain around the science of an “inverted bullet”. The Guardian. Tenet review: ‘It feels like several blockbusters combined’ Share using Email. (itself the inspiration for Youtube channel updates, written reviews, and exclusive content -- free! And I ask in return: Do you remember the Solex Agitator that James Bond had to track down in Christopher Nolan’s nuclear apocalypse thriller dazzles and disorients – but can it entice people back to the cinema? The movie is full of repeatable snippets of dialogue, helpfully repeated. Unlike in Nolan’s Batman films, Tenet’s misanthropic villain happens to be self-made. Key characters in Christopher Nolan's 'Tenet' utter those lines in the director's latest jigsaw puzzle gussied up as a feature film. Movies about time never exist in a vacuum, and Tenet, while highly original on many fronts, manages to brush up against the edges of such super thought-provoking fare as Chris Marker’s The current circumstances have seen the release date​ ​repeatedly delayed, to maximise the film’s profit potential. In The Guardian, Catherine Shoard’s review refers to Tenet as “a palindromic dud”. It’ll be a much larger club soon. If I wish to explain to him who asks, I know not.” Though I’m also partial to: “Everything that has happened had to happen by virtue of it having happened,” which I scrawled on the back of a napkin after a screening of Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes. As Tenet’s palindromic title hints, symmetry has a role to play here too. I needed one before even trying to start writing this review. You may feel both these definitions weighing on you if you go to see Looper a dream of comprehension in comparison. Tenet Rated PG-13 for forward and reversed violence, mild headaches, desirable men's wear. Christopher Nolan's reputation as a cinematic craftsman precedes him. Films such as The Dark Knight, the centrepiece of his moody, straight-faced Batman trilogy, and the high-concept espionage thriller Inception helped to cement the British writer-director’s reputation as a rare auteur able to infuse the blockbuster with complex ideas. The Guardian Peter Bradshaw Aug 25, 2020 For me, Tenet is preposterous in the tradition of Boorman’s Point Blank, or even Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point, a deadpan jeu d’esprit, a cerebral cadenza, a deadpan flourish of crazy implausibility – but supercharged with steroidal energy and imagination. 12 Monkeys ‘Buddy-comedy chemistry’: Robert Pattinson and John David Washington in Tenet. The Man with the Golden Gun Nolan, on the other hand, is tasked with saving cinema. 'Does your head hurt yet?' may depend on your relationship with time. Now imagine that was from a collision that is going to happen tomorrow. For those who found 'Inception' too knotty, too obsessed with explaining itself 'Tenet' will be a cinematic torture chamber. Though I wish Nolan had taken more care with the audibility of the dialogue, which is sometimes all but drowned out by Ludwig Göransson’s eight-on-the-Richter-scale score. The story is built around elaborate set pieces such as a slow-motion plane crash and a car chase that plays out in reverse. “inverted,” travelling backwards through time. If ignorance is ammunition, that’s some high-calibre stuff. He intends to use it. from Shane Carruth, which featured the idea that travel through time itself takes time; if you want to visit last week, it’s going to take you seven days to get there. There is not currently a critical consensus for Tenet on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, but of the 30 reviews counted, the film sits at 87%. We see complicated things being explained, but we rarely hear them. . “You’re not here for what, you’re here for how,” says Laura. , and the little seen, low-budget Regardless, I was glad to see this film, long heralded as the sign that movies are starting to return to the big screen in force. The Protagonist must also rescue English art authenticator Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) from her controlling, estranged husband, Andrei. All the other hallmarks of a Nolan film are also present: seriousness, spectacle, a bloated running time (admittedly, at two-and-a-half hours, on the shorter end for him). Although it's still up in the air when Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" will be available to all U.S. moviegoers, with many theaters still closed, the reviews are in – and largely positive. I expect a surprising number of people will open the door and jump out of this moving race car (look, another palindrome!) A co-production between the United Kingdom and United States, it stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh. ? The meta moments land for all the wrong reasons. If no one asks me, I know. What is it, you ask? For me, Tenet is preposterous in the tradition of Boorman’s Point Blank, or even Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point, a deadpan jeu d’esprit, a cerebral cadenza, a deadpan flourish of crazy implausibility – but supercharged with steroidal energy and imagination. Tenet I’m not sure what Nolan has up his sleeve for 2030, but I’m already scared. Sorry you must be at least 19 years of age to consume this content. As the Protagonist, Neil and pilot Mahir (Himesh Patel) plot a heist, the camera rotates around them distractingly. And why on Earth would he craft a scene where two characters, one wearing an oxygen mask, separated by a glass partition, talk in two languages translated through a tinny walkie-talkie? He intends to use it. Jordan Farley Aug 21, 2020. The Irish Film Institute has been playing Tenet at 4, Markey says, because 6 was “ridiculously loud” when tested. Inception The film’s rarefied world comprises private yachts, offshore tax havens and gold bullion. Mr. Protagonist then finds himself recruited by Tenet, a shadowy organization whose friends in high places include Sir Michael Crosby, played by Nolan good luck charm Sir Michael Caine in a cameo that, like so many of the film’s other minor characters, is granted no follow-up. “Don’t nod,” say. Or “Never odd or even,” which would have made a great coded greeting. The studio reps told me I might have been the first person outside the production company to see it twice. Tenet opens with a CIA operative known only as The Protagonist (John David Washington) taking part in a raid on an opera house in Ukraine. "Tenet" is a movie about momentum, reflected both in its narrative and its aesthetic, and more cracks would show without it. , they go by boat. It features digressions and discursions into the nature of free will, cause and effect, morality and mortality. But truth is a slippery thing, and too much doctrine hides the truth. Elizabeth Debicki and John David Washington in Tenet. Well, imagine you come across the remnants of a car crash – bits of broken taillight and metal on the road. Feb 19, 2021. Fortunately, a mysterious international organisation called Tenet has hired a special agent (. . ), Rian Johnson’s Tenet reminds us that many of us are the great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers of the men and women of the future. Feel it.”. Or you could take the advice Poésy’s character gives to our man: “Don’t try to understand it. Mathematical patterns are the organising principles of Nolan’s oeuvre, tenets, if you will. Trending. What’s frustrating is that he doesn’t trust his audience to follow along. He also seeks out Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) as a way to get close to Andrei (Kenneth Branagh), a Russian oligarch who spits and snarls and seems to be at the centre of this temporal maelstrom. Responsible for many of the must-see cinematic experiences of the last two decades, Nolan has repeatedly delighted, shocked, and immersed … 100. Others were even more skeptical; The Guardian put their review very bluntly: “Tenet is not a movie it’s worth the nervous braving a trip to the big screen to see. Primer There are few laughs and certainly no sex. I also wish Nolan had thrown in a few palindromes aside from the title. Fortunately, a mysterious international organisation called Tenet has hired a special agent (BlacKkKlansman’s John David Washington) to stop him. Back to the Future ... 'I have no idea what I'm talking about.' Clémence Poésy’s scientist Laura and mafiosa Priya (Bollywood superstar Dimple Kapadia) drip feed him clues about the weapon and its potential as he weaves through Tallinn, Mumbai, London, Oslo and Pompei. The worry is that if even a movie of this scale can’t revitalise cinema-going more venues are likely close for good. Ahead of its international rollout starting August 26, the reviews are in for Christoper Nolan’s time-travel thriller Tenet, and fair to say it’s a mixed bag of opinions.