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Christopher Nolan’s most recent attempt at taxing our brain cells will have you scratching your head...
The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar… what do all these movies have in common? Aside from a short Michael Caine cameo, they are all high-concept, mind-bending films, from visionary filmmaker Christopher Nolan. However, for all intellectual plots and unique concepts about dreams and black holes are impressive, I bet you could not recite the entire plot of a single one of these movies.
That is not to say that there are not good films. In so many ways, the additions to Nolan’s filmography are some of the best movies of the past twenty years. Do you remember the feeling after watching Nolan’s The Dark Knight? The emotional journeys of Dunkirk and Insomnia? While he has his flaws as a director and a screenwriter, he has always been seen as a pioneer of cinema; pushing the boundaries of what can be filmed on camera and how it is captured.
So, it was no surprise that he decided to step back into the field of ever-perplexing storylines and fantastically filmed action, with Tenet. The film, that was set to relaunch the box-office after the COVID-19 pandemic, centres around two characters (one of which is only called ‘The Protagonist’) that try to prevent the literal end of the existence using Inversion, the very act of reversing time. But even as I am writing this, I am not 100% certain that is the actual plot because the film does such a poor job of explaining it. In fact, the films’ dialogue is not only delivered at brake net speed, but is also written as if the audience is already perfectly in tune with the plot and story. The technique Nolan uses is the same one he uses in his previous high-concept romps like Inception, but is slightly better received in that film because the plot is easier to grasp. In Tenet, however, this is not the case. A film that includes time travel needs to firmly set in place its rules and consequences from the outset, something Tenet struggles with.
Other Nolan aspects leak into the film as well, but for the better. In fact, Nolan’s preference to practical effects over CGI looks simply gorgeous mixed in with hectic plotline of Tenet. There is almost no greater sight on a cinema screen than watching a multi-story building being blown up from the bottom only for the already collapsed top half to rebuild itself in seconds, while two groups going in opposite directions in time run alongside each other. One of the highlights of the film is when John David Washington’s protagonist fights an inverted assailant. Watching a hand-to-hand fight take place under Nolan’s direction is splendid on its own, but to watch two men, going in literally opposite directions in time, is simply astounding.
Tenet is also fun if you are not too invested in the plot and the characters, which to be honest isn’t that difficult. Aside from an occasional quip and some welcome charisma, the two leads don’t provide much emotional investment or character development. Despite this, the usually controversial, Robert Pattinson and newcomer John David Washington are surprisingly magnetic in their roles, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Dimple Kapadia providing solid performances in their supporting roles, and as always, Nolan’s trademark Michael Caine cameo is always welcome.
Where the characters shine though is in the supporting duo of heroin Elizabeth Debicki and villain Kenneth Branagh. In the film, the two play a couple in a hate-fuelled relationship and where Branagh’s Russian oligarch Sator provides the antagonism of the movie, Debicki’s mentally abused mother, Kat, who’s ripped from her son provides what there is of Tenet’s heart. Branagh is thoroughly hateable throughout and his scenery chewing Russian accent seems to almost add to his despicableness. However, at the opposite end of the scale, Debicki is excellent as her character, providing much of the movies emotion and is easily one of the best things about the film.
Behind the scenes, the movie is a divisive as it is on it. While there is no denying the film is visually enticing, another crucial area where the film falls short of the mark is sound editing. For once in a Nolan film though, the score is not provided by Hans Zimmer, but instead, Black Panther and Creed alum, Ludwig Göransson. But in Göransson’s defence, it would take looking that fact up to know about it, as the music is so similar in style to Nolan’s long-time collaborator. But in post-production there must have been a confusing meeting about how the score should play in the film, as some emphatic musical notes are utterly blasted through the speakers. In the first ten minutes alone, I felt as if was at a concert as the music battered through my chest and made me feel hollow and that took my focus off of the screen and to the room around me, wandering if there was something wrong with the theatre’s speakers. Though it only happens a handful of times throughout the film and by the end is unnoticeable, it’s ultimately unclear whether this was a fault in post-production or an actual creative decision by the editing team. Unfortunately, this also affects the films dialogue. A lot of the lines spoken by the actors is inaudible because either their words aren’t filtered enough, or the music of the scene drowns them out, again adding to the difficulty of getting your head around the plot.
Finally, before I bring this review to an end, I have to speak about a potential problem that this film has created for future movies. Nolan has always been known for his intellectually astute storylines, look no further than the brilliant Inception and Memento. But after his more adaptational work with The Dark Knight Trilogy and Dunkirk, he looked to try to recreate the success of his earlier films by leaning back into the high-concept void. But with Tenet, he may have overstepped even his own reach, like he was accused of with Interstellar. Simply put, it feels like Nolan makes Tenet complicated, for the sake of making it complicated. Films that are successful and heavily involve time-travel are rare to come by (depending on how you measure its success). Edge of Tomorrow, Back to the Future and The Terminator are some of the most successful (financially and critically) time travel movies of all time, and that is because they take liberties with their concept. Nolan doesn’t do this, and often alienates his audience. This leads to a bigger issue. Nolan is an influential director, and many will use his films for inspiration for their own projects, meaning that in ten years’ time, movies like Tenet could be the norm.
Overall, Tenet is not a masterpiece and could be used a huge metaphor for time-travel itself: it looks incredible and has the potential to be great, but in reality, its very, very, very complicated. Christopher Nolan’s most recent attempt at taxing our brain cells will have you scratching your head for most of it and will leave you with a feeling of something to be desired. But some top-notch performances, excellent set-pieces and spine-tingling action keep this bold, bonkers and utterly baffling action film from being a lifeless head scratcher.
FINAL REVIEW: 3.5/5
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