TENET Movie Review (NO SPOILERS)

Jack Cutmore-Scott, left, John David Washington and Robert Pattinson in “Tenet.” (Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros.)

By Justin Little | Staff writer

Tenet is the newest film by writer/director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, Interstellar). It is being hailed by critics at Empire Magazine as “Bond on Acid.”

After seeing this film three times, can I say the same?  Yes. 

After having a near-death experience, The Protagonist (John David Washington), is selected to join a shadowy government organization known as Tenet: a group tasked with the survival of the human race.

When learning what is at stake, he must journey through the world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold something beyond real time. 

Tenet is so beyond crazy that I can undoubtedly say that it was something I have never seen on film before. It is a dazzling spectacle to gaze upon.

Nolan has outdone himself based on the sheer visual scale of this film. Many sequences left my masked jaw dropped. 

Visually this film is perfect, but when it comes to the narrative and its characters, the film slightly suffers. 

This is a film that demands multiple viewings to fully grasp the complex concepts Nolan is trying to explore. He chooses not to hold the audience’s hands throughout this journey.

He tends to spend more time on the visuals of the film than its plot and characters. And in some ways, this works. In others, it is just frustrating. 

A particular gripe that many have is the sound mixing of the film. Nolan chose to favor the soundtrack and background noise in certain scenes rather than focus on the dialogue.

In some cases this can work, like in his previous film Dunkirk where the dialogue was not necessarily important to get the gist of the plot.

But when you are dealing with different timelines and various characters it should be important to hear what the actors are saying. 

But I digress, after seeing this film for a second and then eventually a third time these complex concepts became more and more clear. Thus increasing my enjoyment of the film.

When everything makes sense, the film is actually quite brilliant. And then it just becomes easy to forget about every nitpick you may have had on the previous viewing. 

Now is this Nolan’s best? No. Is it his most ambitious and visually dazzling? Absolutely.  

I recommend you check this film out in theaters at your safest convenience. 

8/10 

What would you rate Tenet out of 10?