Tenet Review: Christopher Nolan’s James Bond Film is Here

Christopher Nolan’s latest mashup of genres, Tenet, is his best film since 2010’s Inception.

A thoroughly compelling lead performance by John David Washington and Ludwig Göransson’s propulsive score keeps the audience engaged throughout the film’s long 2.5-hour runtime. Add in Nolan’s impeccable ability to capture breathtaking imagery and you have a film that overcomes the sound mixing issues as well as the at times confusing and maybe even unnecessary time manipulation plot mechanic.

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The Story of a Protagonist 

Nolan throws a lot of information at the protagonist (we never get a name for the main character) and the audience. The audience is already going to be thrown a bit my the complicated plot. In a film this complex, you need the main character to handle the turbulence with grace. If the main character is constantly overwhelmed by the constant time loop shenanigans, then the audience isn’t going care about what happening to the protagonist.  Whether it’s his physicality in fight scenes or the intelligence he shows sleuthing alongside this truly impressive cast, John David Washington is always up to the task. He shares his father’s (Denzel Washington) calm, cool, charismatic demeanor.

Inception was truly an ensemble affair with a terrific Leonardo DiCaprio performance providing the emotional anchor for the film. While Tenet has an impressive cast,  this is Washington’s film through and through as he’s is in approximately 90-95 percent of the film. 

Tenet’s Mind-Bending Plot

Fittingly, 2020 marks the 10-year anniversary since Inception landed in movie theaters across the world. While the world’s of Inception and Tenet are not the same, there are similarities in how Nolan crafted these two films. 

With Inception, he took the typical structure of a heist film, then added the concepts of dreams, memory manipulation and implanting ideas to create a stunning work of art. While Tenet doesn’t quite reach the cinematic heights of Inception, it does use a similar formula to concoct the film’s plot. In Tenet, Nolan decides to tackle the spy genre, then adds the concept of time manipulation, loops and other time-related shenanigans. 

For most of the film’s running time, Tenet is pretty straightforward. You can catch a bullet instead of shooting it, a car can travel against the current of time, etc. The simple twist to the spy genre was great, but around the end of the 2nd act, there’s a twist in the time element of the film that wasn’t necessary.

Since the story in Inception was so unique and complex, Nolan used a lot of exposition and monologues. Tenet explains the time inversion mechanics early in the film. Then Nolan lets the characters and strong spy story drive the film. There are other not so great similarities to Nolan’s body of work.

The Dark Knight Rises, Interstellar and Dunkirk suffered from a lot of the dialogue being muffled by booming scores and poor sound mixing. Tenet suffers from the same problem in the faster-paced action scenes. When the action picks up, the dialogue is drowned out, which leaves the audience confused as to what’s happening and why. The climactic action scene of the film is particularly bad as the characters are outfitted with helmets, so you miss facial reactions. Not to mention Washington, Robert Pattinson and Aaron Taylor Johnson are all using different accents. You may be able to pick up a word or two, but massive amounts of dialogue are sacrificed for action and sound.

Compelling Cast Keeps Tenet Engaged

While Washington is clearly the star, he’s joined by an impressive cast.

Pattinson plays Washington’s partner in the film (Neil) and it’s another layered performance for the future Batman actor. Throughout the film, it’s clear Neil knows more about time inversion than he’s letting on. 

Elizabeth Debicki does a great job as Kat and a woman that’s more or less trapped in an abusive marriage. It’s her marriage to Andrei Sator played magnificently by Kenneth Branagh that serves as the Protagonist’s way into the world-destroying plot machinations. If this was a James Bond film, Branagh’s Sator would easily rank as the No. 2 Bond villain behind Javier Bardem’s Raoul Silva. He’s pure evil and his motivation in the film is strong enough to power the film’s plot on its own.

Sir Michael Cain pops up in a scene opposite Washington. It’s this one scene that allows us to see Washington’s charisma and kicks off the spy aspect of Tenet.

Final Thoughts: Tenet

Tenet is a good film. However, it could of been a great film if Nolan would have simplified the time mechanics and allowed the audience to hear the dialogue. You shouldn’t have to go see a film multiple times, just to hear the actual dialogue. Masking the dialogue with a wall of sound isn’t good filmmaking and it’s a shame because the cast does such a great job executing these roles. And no I have no idea why the film is called Tenet.

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