Tenet - Film Review

Alright so Tenet... yet another Christopher Nolan film created to confuse the heck out of people and breed a generation of film pretentious film buffs for absolutely no reason!

Here are the things I liked:

1. It has a very tight cast that reoccurred throughout the film. In big action films we tend to meet a plethora of characters that serve one purpose, then they are never heard from again! Not in this film, just about every character you meet you will see again.

2. The cast was fantastic! Robert Pattinson is aging like a fine wine...in looks as well as acting abilities. I truly believe when this man is 60 years old he will be revered as the greatest actor alive. John David Washington was a breath of fresh air...he was believable and not at all what I thought his character was going to be. He seems to be masterfully focused throughout he duration of the film, no matter what is thrown his way. Of course being the son of Denzel Washington I would expect nothing short of captivating. Kenneth Branagh was brilliant as always. Fully devoted to his character and his objectives throughout the film. Elizabeth Debicki who has slowly been establishing herself as a kick ass action star. And of course no Nolan movie would be complete without Sir Michael Caine who we only see for a moment, but is as convincing as ever. 

3. The stunt coordination and choreography deserves an Academy Award in itself. Some of the most difficult and I’m sure mentally challenging stunt choreography I have ever seen.

4. The over idea of Tenet is incredibly intriguing. I was fully in it from start to finish.

Here are the things disliked:

1. The dialogue was absolute trash! There is hardly any dialogue that fleshes out who these people are and what the are emotionally fighting for. You are getting very specific facts spit at you in ever scene. Every piece of dialogue seems forced and unnatural.

2. The unnecessary confusion that Nolan feels obligated to put us through. The idea is confusing enough, and then he throws in more and more until your brain bursts. I always appreciate movies that make you think on your drive home from the theatre, but Nolan often takes it unnecessarily far.

3. The film lacks serious heart. Unlike Interstellar, Tenet can’t seem to pull the audience in through emotion, but instead through confusion and action sequences. There are some things lightly established, but nothing to drive the film forward. There is no take away from this film. It is purely a film for entertainment and stimulation.

Over all I was entertained and I did enjoy seeing it. I even sat through a 4.8 earthquake in one of the best action sequences in the film and I didn’t even have to pay extra! I won’t be seeing this again anytime soon, but I would like to someday revisit it.

As an action movie, I would suggest seeing it just for the stunts and the great actors (even though they weren’t really given much opportunity to actually act).

I rate Tenet 3 out of 5 stars.