Tenet 2020

Thenewreviews reviewed Tenet (2020)

Well-made, but incredibly dissapointing

Tenet, Christopher Nolan's latest blockbuster, is great for super genius thinkers. The rest of us will be lost.

True, this is a Nolan film, and that means one thing - spectacle. And this film's full of it, from the opening terrorist attack at Kiev to the apocalyptic final battle, there is a lot of breath taking action set pieces and, to back it up, the scope has never been larger. The practical and CGI effects are great, and some of the things they pull off is the type of stuff you never see. The physics, putting aside how hard to understand they, are clever (putting on a mask so you can breathe while time goes backwards?) and the acting is really good, epically from Robert Pattinson (as a Bond-like deutoragnist) and Kenneth Branagh (as the sadistic villian). The second half of the film is also a lot more enjoyable than the first half - and that is where my praises end.

Nolan is my favourite director, but this film honestly isn't great. First of all, you may be surprised to hear that the film isn't really that entertaining - it's too complex for you to enjoy, and the dark, tension-building tone makes it feel like every scene will end with something horrible happening. Also, the characters are very emotionally distant - our lead character doesn't even have a name! - and it's hard to get invested in a lot of their struggles. The music is also super loud and not really anything else, and, as you may know, the film is far too complicated, and the first half suffers a lot from this.

Tenet is disappointingly meh, and it sadly doesn't have any real enjoyment factor, particularly in the first half. However, if you are looking for spectacle, there is still a lot to enjoy.