Front to back

You’ll never guess who made this movie.

To start with, I’d like to apologize. I know I promised to stop bringing up the pandemic in my reviews, but here I have to. For better or worse, Tenet is intertwined with COVID-19, probably more than any other movie that’s come out lately.

John David Washington plays a protagonist whose name is Audience Member Self-Insert, or it might as well be. He is recruited into a mysterious organization named Tenet, which teaches him about time inversion. A process that works by–it’s time travel, don’t think about it. From there, he’s sent on a mission to prevent a future catastrophe, the trail leading him to arms dealer Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh) and his beautiful wife Kat (Elizabeth Debicki).

Self-Insert has no name, no backstory, a generic personality, and midway through [spoiler] decides to rescue Kat from being shot by Andrei [/spoiler]. Why the last one. Because you always got to save the girl in a movie, even if you have more chemistry with your sidekick, Neil (Robert Patterson). However, Washington’s natural charisma does allow him to be a suitable leading man.

For those of you who don’t know or perhaps have just forgotten in the wake of everything that’s happened, Tenet was the movie to see if releasing tentpole blockbusters in theatres could be viable in the middle of a raging pandemic. Despite favorable reviews, it ended up bombing hard at the box office. It also likely inspired Warner Bros.’s decision to release their upcoming slate of films in theatres and on HBO Max simultaneously. Even before the possibility of catching a deadly disease, I was not looking forward to seeing Tenet during its first run. 

I had become disillusioned with writer/director Christopher Nolan around the time of its release due to realizing that he makes the same movie over and over again. Oh, not even the cast of Tenet can tell you what it’s about. Let me take a wild guess. A protagonist is haunted by their past, most likely because of a Lost Lenore. A non-linear narrative structure. A booming bass soundtrack, typically provided by Hans Zimmer. They’ll be actors playing against type, especially for villain roles. Michael Caine. Madness. Duality. Femme Fatale. Practical effects. I ended up being right for all but two or three of these points, for the record.

The other thing that I found offputting was how the only thing I heard people say was this a movie meant for the big screen. Nolan was very adamant about this movie releasing in theatres and nowhere else. I’m sorry, but if your movie’s main draw is that it looks and sounds cool, then I’m not interested. That’s probably number five on my list of things that I look for in a movie. That’s perhaps the main reason why I didn’t care for Mad Max: Fury Road, beyond it being just one long chase scene.

Denis Villeneuve has said the same thing about Dune in the wake of the theatre/HBO MAX hybrid plan. How Dune was “meticulously designed to be seen in theaters.” That seems so myopic because what, your movie plays in theatres for a few weeks and then optimally on the boob tube for years. Just so you know, I love the theatrical experience. As soon as I can, I’m going out and seeing a movie, preferably at Flix Brewhouse, the best movie theatre in the world. (I’ll expect my check in the mail) But the HBO Max releases have to happen. Or what, are we just supposed to keep delaying every movie until the latter half of 2021? It’s just to get through COVID. Granted, Warner Bros. certainly could have handled the situation better. Like actually contacting the directors beforehand to tell them about their plan.

The funny thing about all of this is that I enjoyed watching Tenet on my tv. I could hit pause an hour in to use the bathroom and then hunker down for the remaining hour. I could turn on the subtitles to be able to understand what people are saying. That’s a Nolan trademark I forgot. He likes making the dialogue in his movies inaudible. I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed Tenet nearly as much in theatres.

My favorite part of this film is Branagh, whose performance elevates a thinly written character. While no stranger to villainous roles, they usually have him going whole hog. Here he’s very subdued and quietly menacing. It’s a lot like Robert DeNiro in Angel Heart, who’s similarly understated. Though here, Branagh is allowed to raise his voice a couple of times. 

Tenet lacks the emotional depth of the Dark Knight Trilogy or even Memento. I also spent the second half having to fight off a headache. Despite that, I found Tenet entertaining enough. If you know Nolan, you know what to expect. And if you’re into that, then you should check this movie out.