SA Reviews: Tenet

• SA Engages

October 15, 2020

When examining the zeitgeist of 21^st century filmmaking, there are few directors with more influence than Christopher Nolan. Blending cultural significance with critical acclaim, Nolan is responsible for era-defining movies such as The Dark Knight, Inception, and Dunkirk. His style is well-known to the point of parody: tortured hero complexes, high-concept twists, and primarily original stories that are so visually dynamic that they practically beg to be seen in theaters. Simply put, Christopher Nolan aspires to make movies that blend critical acclaim with widespread popularity, inciting more thought and analysis than the average superhero sequel. Because of this unique blend, Nolan’s movies consistently dominate the box office, impacting the filmmaking world and even culture as a whole.

In the midst of a global pandemic that resulted in entire industries and economies shutting down, the entertainment world was starved for content. After multiple delays, Warner Bros. finally released Tenet in the United States on September 3, 2020, albeit to mixed reviews. Whether or not it was a good or bad movie seemed unimportant. It was an important movie because it had a platform to revitalize movie theaters across the country. That didn’t happen. 

What went wrong? Tenet looked great, featured movie stars, and released during a time of limited ulterior entertainment options. Obviously, normalcy shouldn’t be expected in the middle of arguably the weirdest summer in which to premiere a movie ever. A gigantic part of the issue is that the United States just wasn’t (and isn’t) ready for big films to return. However, I think Tenet had a few serious flaws that led to a lack of capitalization on a blockbuster movie market with little to no competition. More qualified critics have spoken to these issues much more thoroughly, but there are a few things I noticed that I’ll share.

First is the plot. While Nolan enjoys making audiences think, this story and premise seemed overcomplicated and unnecessary. There is an air of self-importance which implies that only truly devoted fans will ever fully understand Tenet, which I believe had the reverse intended effect.

Cryptic exposition about inverted time is actually made less coherent by my biggest beef with Tenet: its sound mixing. I couldn’t hear a thing! Plot-critical discussions were made utterly inaudible thanks to their delivery through a combination of masks, walkie talkies, booming orchestras, and shoot-outs. Within the first half hour, I had missed storylines that proved to be vital when I didn’t know where characters were or why.

Finally, hot take: are we sure John David Washington is a good actor?

With Tenet, Christopher Nolan continues to show that he is concerned more about the scope and grandeur of a movie’s concept than he is about its actual cohesion. While that can be frustrating as a viewer, understanding his priorities can help when watching one of his movies that doesn’t seem to make actual sense when scrutinized (Hello, Interstellar!). Every once in a while, Nolan strikes gold and hits on an ideal mix of story, cast, themes, dialogue, and score. Other times, he makes a popcorn movie that looks really cool.

While I personally was remarkably detached from the convoluted plot and one-dimensional characters of Tenet, I was enthralled by its blending of visual and practical effects. Compared to other Nolan projects, I didn’t love it at all. As a film, I considered it detached, pretentious, and too demanding for the average moviegoer. Nevertheless, Tenet gave the film industry “An Event” again, which I’m grateful for. When watching Tenet for the first time, take the advice of the inversion scientist explaining the rules in the first act, “Don’t try to understand it, just feel it.”

---