Tenet

Genre: Science-Fiction, Action, Thriller
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Abusive Relationships, Violence

if ics tnaillirb a s'ti, noisulcnoc nI.
Ahem.
​
Slowing stumbling his way into a massive, time-reversed conspiracy, the unnamed Protagonist is our audience surrogate. Each reveal trickled out reveals another small fragment of the story. There are events we see twice, with the details from the second showing changing the scene altogether.

Criticisms have been that the film is hard to follow, and that it not as thought provoking or intellectual as some may expect from director Christopher Nolan's other films. While time travel stories can be complicated, I found it all relatively easy to follow except for the big battle scene.

Likewise, it can be as easy for a director to become typecast as an actor; Robert Pattinson has broken away from the dull love interest he played in Twilight, and this follows an almost-arthouse role in The Lighthouse. While a viewer might expect a different feel of film from Nolan, the action-heavy style of Tenet is not a flaw.

John David Washington's protagonist is a brilliant mix of a proactive instigator and an audience surrogate, buffeted along by the plot. What is happening? he asks, and How does this time reversal thing even work?. As we move through the film, his awareness and comprehension matches ours, ending with a satifying conclusion and the set up for the events before the beginning of the film.

While the plot and the time travel concept is measured out, the climactic battle scene is wild and chaotic. The gist and the core events are easy to follow, but the details are confusing. Just like a real battle, it's hard to spot the red and blue armbands or keep track of where the action is happening. The balance of action-packed moments and exposition-packed dialogue make this a textbook Nolan, in that watching it once is nowhere near enough to spot everything. Luckily, I found it so enjoyable I'm looking forward to those further viewings.

In conclusion, it's a brilliant sci fi.