Tenet (2020)

 

A spy embarks on mission to prevent World War III that transcends time.

Related Titles: Inception, Interstellar, The Adjustment Bureau

Rating: 8/10
By Leanne

The trailer for Tenet opens with, "All I have for you is a word: 'Tenet.'" All I have for you to review Tenet is, "What?" I have watched an above average amount of films both in the cinema and just generally in life and this is without out a doubt, hands down the most confusing film I have EVER seen. 

Basically, the premise of this plot is the Protagonist (yes that is actually his character name!) played by John David Washington undertakes a secret mission to prevent the outbreak of World War III, which sounds fairly simple but then time travel and inversion is introduced and honestly good luck. To begin  with it's important to know that time travel in Tenet is not instantaneous, to travel back to a certain point, you have to travel back for the whole time to get to that point. As opposed to instantly travelling back to a point in time which is what we usually see. 

The film opens with a mission to prevent pieces of a doomsday machine being stolen. He is tortured and then inducted into Tenet where he is briefed on inversion which is a very clever seen by is confusing as hell. Everyone the Protagonist meets seems to be involved in the Tenet programme. He forms a friendship with Neil (Robert Pattinson) and they deal with trying to prevent a Russian oligarch, Sator (Kenneth Branagh) from getting his hands on the doomsday device. This is just a real brief chunk of the plot and there is so, so much more to it. Honestly, the film is insane, it jumps from location to location, characters are constantly moving back and forwards in time and their is no real simple plot to follow. I sat for the whole 2 hours 30 minutes loving every second of this mesmerising film but at the same time, having no real grasp on what was happening 90% of the time.

The film itself looks amazing, obviously, Christopher Nolan is truly an artist. He does as much a possible live action and uses as few green screens as possible and although it isn't noticeable that a green screen is used, this film does have a different feel to it because it was shot on location. I respect that effort, I watched an interview about the production of this film and the cast and crew flew all over the world to shoot on location, they closed motorways for weeks and used an actual plane for the crash scene in an actual working airport. When asked why he does it like this Nolan answered, 'to give the audience a reason to re-approach action films.' Not only do the scenery and the sets look great but the whole film is very well shot. The action is crisp and clear and all the inversion shots are very smooth. Tenet is extremely visually pleasing just like all of Nolan's work. 

Casting for this film on point. John David Washington plays the lead role as the Protagonist and does all of his own stunt work which is awesome. I take my hat off to him for the time it must have taken to be able to pull that off. He owns the screen and has convincing relationships with all the characters around him. Robert Pattinson also plays Neil excellently and does a lot of his own stunt driving too! Washington and Pattinson have great on screen chemistry and their friendship feels very real. I particularly liked some of Pattinson's sarcastic humour, it added extra to his character. Kenneth Brannagh goes HaM in this film as evil mastermind Sator, anytime he's on screen he steals it and goes in for every scene. Playing his wife, Elizabeth Debicki looks amazing in every scene and it's nice to see that her height is used - so often she seems shrunk down in a lot of films. All the character's in this film are used to move plot forward and are given very little fleshing out with a backstory but at least Washington and Pattison's characters have purposes to the plot are useful in and of themselves. Unfortunately, Debicki's character of Kat is poorly thinned out. She is only useful to the Protagonist and Neil in her ability to get them closer to her husband rather than bringing anything directly to the table. Her life also revolved around other people, she was constantly thinking about her son or husband and didn't have anything to make her an independent person. 

The best thing to do if you watch this film is to take it with a pinch of salt and just accept that you won't understand what is happening. Everything is not as it seems because the whole concept of  Tenet was a futuristic organisation and no one seems to be moving in one direction at any given time. Despite the plot being incredibly confusing, it is a very enjoyable film because all you know is you want the Protagonist to succeed and if nothing else you will root for this. Christopher Nolan is also one of the most notable film-makers for creating non-linear storytelling and his films always look insane, if nothing else go to appreciate the artistry that has gone into making this.

Rating: 8.5/10
By Rebecca

'Tenet' is the biggest release since the reopening of the cinemas and to say I was excited is an understatement. I really enjoy Christopher Nolan movies, especially movies like Interstellar and Inception, the storylines are usually so complex and are able to challenge the viewer in so many different ways that are so exciting and refreshing. Nolan definitely challenges the audience with 'Tenet' because to be honest with you, I actually don't really have a clue what the hell actually happened in it. I bet you're wondering how even with not knowing what was happening that it still gets favourable rating. Well, despite the storyline, I feel like every other aspect was sublime. There are so many moments where I was left in awe, and the whole experience of the movie just took over. 

The first thing you notice as the film begins to roll is the soundtrack. It pulsates through your body, and is purposefully very loud. Straight away, the audience is hooked on the action, because the music was so droning and kinetic it left the viewer no choice than to be completely present. As the dialogue comes in, it quickly dawns that its inaudible in places, they're speaking with gas masks and I'm suddenly flustered and confused to what was happening. As soon as I released that the pace was too quick for me, I kind of relaxed and accepted that I wouldn't truly understand. The original soundtrack was made by Ludwig Goransson, and it is one of the best soundtracks I think i've ever witnessed. The way it twists and weaves through the action. It comes to high crescendos and then suddenly cut outs, it just adds another layer to the already busy screenplay. Here's the soundtrack in full to listen to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVMkvCTT_yg  

The subject of time travel and inversion isn't new to Nolan, and I personally am super interested in this concept. I thought it was very clever how the scenes in 'Tenet' interlinked a lot, things would happen in the action that wouldn't make sense but then when the scene progressed and the characters changed times it would then soon become clear (kind of) to why that happened or find out how it happened. There would also be scenes which would happen and then picked up later in the movie but in a different time or inversion of time. I was baffled but it was also very cool at the same time. I think what made 'Tenet' different was the amount of detail that went into every shot. It was smooth, and pleasing to the eye. You can tell when it's shot on location and there were some absolutely breath-taking landscapes, especially the scenes shot on the Amalfi coast. 

The casting was also superb. John David Washington who was the lead protagonist was just amazing. He was the main focus of the film and he was featured in most every shot. He was brilliantly supported by Robert Pattinson who played Neil. I really think Pattinson proved how versatile he is as an actor, and he's thrown himself into this role. I'm very excited to see him take on the role as Batman soon, I am very optimistic especially after this performance. I think to release the true potential of this film I think I will have to give it a second watch, and most likely put the subtitles on. Regardless, I still loved it and it is truly a masterpiece.