Movie Plot – Tenet: A protagonist is fighting for the survival of the world. He’s an expert in espionage and is on a mission beyond time.
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan
Cast: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh, Michael Caine
Definitely a Christopher Nolan Movie
Tenet is in everything a pure Nolan film: a grand action spectacle about well-dressed men engaged in serious business, seasoned with bombastic music and crafted stunts, wrapped up in a complicated puzzle. And, it was complex!
The difficulty to comprehend is increased to such an extent that after some time it becomes difficult to connect all plot points. The time travel aspect would suffice for a complex narrative. However, this film also felt like a spry thriller where everyone had its own mysterious agenda. The connections between all of those persons were what made it so complicated.
Once you’re halfway through the movie, you start linking everything. The movie suddenly becomes much more interesting, and your eyes won’t wander off the screen. However, I have to be honest that I will have to see this film a second time. I understood most of it, but not all of it.
Also, visually Tenet is unbelievably strong. I don’t expect anything else from Christopher Nolan. When you see a lot of his films, you start to notice his style. All his images are crystal clear, shots of huge buildings, and especially loud music. And sometimes even a little too loud. A lot of people complain about this as they don’t hear the characters due to the sound. The advantage I had was that I live in Belgium, and in the movie theater, we have subtitles. So for us, this was somewhat easier to follow at that time.
Inversion
This Nolan film is mainly focused on the concept and plot. A little less on the people, but I thought this was okay as the idea itself is ambitious. With that said, you don’t really fully care about the people. Except for Nell (Robert Pattinson), I like Neil!
Now, back to the concept. The idea of moving certain objects or even people in the reverse direction is great and complex. For the inverted people, they go forward to their senses. While for the “normal” people, this is all backward. Also, sentences are spoken backward. Mix both elements together, and you get crazy visuals. Even now, I’m still wondering how Christopher Nolan pulled some scenes off.
This film reminded me a lot of Inception. If you found Inception to be complicated, then this one is even more difficult to understand. One can really see that Christopher Nolan is on a different level when it comes to concept movies. He’s really got his style and makes major stunning movies.
What’s his name?
I’ve noticed this way too late during the movie, but we never hear the main character’s name. Instead, he names himself the Protagonist. I can’t explain why, but this gave me a comic-book vibe. It’s as if he knows somewhere that he is the hero of the story. And at the same time, it feels like a James Bond movie.
I saw that many feel most bound to Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) by her storyline. For her, it was all personal, and she had her own issues. However, the person I cared most about was Neil. And that was just because I thought he was a chill guy. Also, because I want to see more about Robert Pattinson for the upcoming Batman film.
I have to say how the Protagonist and Neil got to know each other was pretty quick and out of the blue.
The villain felt like someone out of a comic-book movie. He’s like an angry self-centered guy who wants it all for himself. That was something that could have been better.
Conclusion
I’m glad to have seen Tenet in the theater, although I’m still in doubt to see it a second time there. So that I would understand the film even better. Despite that, the film is spectacular and met my expectations.
I have to let this movie sink in before I update my ranking list of the best Christopher Nolan movies.
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