Tenet (2020) (comes out the 26th in Canada)

[IndustriousAngel]

1 hour ago, Lucas said:

the dry and serious thriller that Nolan wanted to turn it into

I think that's just your take on it ... I didn't find the movie very serious at all, in fact, I thought there was quite a lot of humour for a Nolan film, and a lot of fun lies in the genre itself. It was much more like a Sean Connery than a Daniel Craig Bond.

[Lucas]

3 minutes ago, IndustriousAngel said:

I think that's just your take on it ... I didn't find the movie very serious at all

Sure, all of this is my take on it. But this is the story of domestic abuse, that is the only character story Tenet has... and it's not really what I'd hope to see in a film that doesn't take itself very seriously.

[solaris]

8 hours ago, baumer said:

So I'm really going to be the only one brave enough here to say that I did not like this movie one single bit. The sound mix is definitely a problem, so much so that this film actually needed subtitles. I literally could not understand probably a quarter of the movie and the scene when they were on those motorized sailboats and they are wearing black helmets, you couldn't understand a freaking word these guys are saying.

 

The plot seemed way too ambitious way to mumbo-jumbo and I just didn't really understand what a lot of it meant. There's way too much exposition and in between some of the inception like action scenes it's just a bunch of people talking about things that don't really make a lot of sense. now you guys can get on your soapbox and tell me that I didn't understand the movie and that's why I didn't like it. And I agree with you to a point. But I shouldn't have to go into a movie and analyze every freaking scene in order to get enjoyment out of it. If you guys say you really enjoyed it and you really loved it then more power to you. Me, I didn't like this really at all right from the get-go.

 

6/10

You're not alone. I was beginning to think it's just me. For me it was just too much hard work to try and comprehend what was happening. I don't mind being pleasantly perplexed by a film if I have confidence it's all going to come together... But it never did. I honestly felt bored a lot of the time - in spite of all the incredible visuals and craft on display.

 

The score is legitimately amazing though, I'll give it that.

[Ethan Hunt]

I think this movie is pretty straightforward lol. not sure what's hard to understand

[Skim Beeble]

I liked this I think? I definitely agree with the criticisms with the sound mixing and some parts I had a hard time following, but this film was just so crazy I couldn’t help but enjoy it. Also the musical score is as great as everybody says it is. 

Edited September 3, 2020 by Skim Beeble

[Cmasterclay]

Not very good/10

[Blankments]

On 9/2/2020 at 2:06 PM, Ethan Hunt said:

I think this movie is pretty straightforward lol. not sure what's hard to understand

The dialogue

[CloneWars]

Movie is overly complicated. Average movie goer will not be able to follow unless they go in expecting something that is hard to follow and has some idea of how time inversion might work. Watched it with my gf. She had no clue what was going on for the longest time. 

 

The plot has a lot of redundancies. For instance, The Protagonist is captured like A LOT. There is some room to trim down. The script needed some work. The concept was great, but Nolan really needed to get the script right before filming. He is just way too focused on the concept here, and I mean, with Memento that worked, but not here. Overall, it's a convoluted mess.

 

And, yes, I do understand the film, although I had to think a lot about it afterwards to put almost everything together. I do think it's interesting that when you are inverted that you are going backwards through time, but technically that is forwards for you. Technically speaking, there is no actual time travel in the movie, and it actually plays out chronologically when you think about it.

 

The villain was a complete cliche though, and we may have the most paper thin Nolan characters ever in this film.

 

I am a huge Nolan fan, but he needs to take a screenwriting course. That seems his weakest area. Also, he needs someone else to have final say when it comes to sound mix. I did understand most of the film, but there were parts that were hard to make out.  

[IronJimbo]

The first hour and a half felt like Nolan was shaking me and screaming in my ear, I couldn't really make out or understand what anyone was saying and it was constant high octane stuff (may watch subtitled viewing for next Nolan film). Seriously there was basically no down time for so long. Though I can't help but think it was meant to be this way when it started to make more sense towards the latter half... it was strangely enjoyable watching it all start to make sense and after being disortiented for so long.

 

Favourite scene was probably the reverse airport scene was cool to see it, entire film felt like a setup for that scene. Then after that... a classic Nolan NONSENSE massing of multiple extras doing some bullshit in a weirdass place, felt very Dark Knight Rises in those ruins at the end.

 

Overall the actions sequences are mediocre and shot poorly, but with cool concepts so everyone seems to give them a pass. Or maybe the standard is so low in Hollywood it's hard to tell.

 

I liked Robert Pattisons character he was a cool guy, the protagonist was decent. Also Elizabeth Debicki was good, she's fit guys.

 

I gave it a C+.

It was entertaining and I glad I watched it but it still was nonsense, Jim wouldn't be caught dead making a film like this. Actually thinking about it, it's kinda of disgraceful people think he's a better director. It's ok to prefer someone, but to take an objective look and claim Nolan has a better grasp on filmmaking. Lol

 

 

Edited September 5, 2020 by IronJimbo

[tree]

I kind of wish the sound effects and music had been turned up even more so we wouldn't have to put up with the insufferable "what would happen if one reversed the space time continuum" bullshit dialogue.

 

  

On 9/1/2020 at 4:59 PM, IndustriousAngel said:

I think that's just your take on it ... I didn't find the movie very serious at all, in fact, I thought there was quite a lot of humour for a Nolan film, and a lot of fun lies in the genre itself. It was much more like a Sean Connery than a Daniel Craig Bond.

 

I think Tenet is a comedy. When Rpatz says "Every living organism on the planet will be destroyed" and Elizabeth debicki replies "Even my son?" that gave me a good chuckle.

 

 

Edited September 7, 2020 by tree

[tree]

Joking aside, I did enjoy this. As in, I enjoyed watching the wonderful action set pieces. I would have enjoyed them more if I had felt any involvement with the characters, and even more than that if I'd been able to understand what the fuck was going on. The last setpiece is fantastic to watch as a piece of logistical filmmaking; I just don't understand any of it, why are the soldiers doing that, how has Rpatz tied a hook to them, etc

 

Probably the weakest Nolan film I have seen.

[elcaballero]

Fun but frustrating is a really good description for Tenet. I was pleasantly surprised how "simple" the story is for the most part. At its core, it's a pretty standard spy film, complete with an over-the-top Russian villain, a heist sequence, and plenty of twists and turns in the plot. The action is really well filmed and edited here (something which I feel has been a struggle for Nolan in the past), and I was pleasantly surprised the film wasn't as deadly serious as I was worried it would be. John David Washington really brings something here as a protagonist who is in slightly over his head.

 

It seems I have the same complaints about the sound mix as most everyone else: it almost feels like Nolan is challenging the audience to make out dialogue at times. I basically gave up trying to understand anything during the rail yard and sailing scenes, for instance. I also found the opening scene almost punishingly loud (I didn't even see it in a plus-format), but I do think I "adjusted" to the audio a bit as the movie went along. The score is, of course, tense and awesome.

 

After all was said and done, I felt like I understood the broad strokes of the story, while perhaps missing out on some details. I can completely understand why that would be frustrating for a lot of people, but I had a lot of fun just watching it as a spy movie where the plot is perhaps a little muddy and confusing.

[elcaballero]

4 hours ago, tree said:

Joking aside, I did enjoy this. As in, I enjoyed watching the wonderful action set pieces. I would have enjoyed them more if I had felt any involvement with the characters, and even more than that if I'd been able to understand what the fuck was going on. The last setpiece is fantastic to watch as a piece of logistical filmmaking; I just don't understand any of it, why are the soldiers doing that, how has Rpatz tied a hook to them, etc

 

Probably the weakest Nolan film I have seen.

Have to admit I too was confused during the last set piece. I understood what they were doing with the temporal pincer movement, but it really looked to me like the two forces were attacking each other, haha.

[Merkel]

Well, I've just seen this.

 

The concept is kinda cool, but I do feel it would be much better served in a first person game kinda like Portal. Nolan does not really make the most of it. There's clearly potential for some incredible fun and even silly action sequences. But I found them frankly unimaginative. And that last sequence in the former Soviet town was just overkill, without anything to cling on to.

 

Pattinson does inject some color and flair to his performance, but all the other actors do serviceable, but unremarkable work, which is not helped one bit by the script.

 

This movie need to be smaller, more focused, milk the concept for its fun prospects (a bit like Edge of Tomorrow...I can only imagine what is it like to go the bathroom when you're inverted), bring more imagination to the action sequences, which such great potential with that silly, yet promising concept.

 

The first hour actually felt a bit like Rise of Skywalker. Go to point A to fetch thing, which leads to point B where you fetch another thing...like the whole Mumbai sequence. They couldn't just talk with a character, they had to go through a totally gratuitous action sequence to get there. Same thing goes for the airplane crash.

 

Nolan needs to get back to smaller projects. And his final action sequences really are getting quite boring to me. Even Inception, which I enjoyed far more than this one, had that never ending sky chase on the snowy slopes.

 

The score was unremarkable. And honestly, visually, for all its scope, it did feel a bit bland.

[jb007]

Nolan has committed the ultimate cinematic sin. He has made an utterly boring movie. The characters are not interesting. The convoluted plot is an ego trip driven mess. 

 

The action scenes are tiring. The action scenes from both sides at the airport are exhausting to watch. Algorithm, inversion do not elicit interest.

 

I was bored to the point of nodding off several times only to be woken up by the loud music. 

 

Washington is ok. Pattinson has a few decent moments. Branagh's role seems to be a continuation of his role in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit., Debiki is tall. Dimple Kapadia looks good. 

 

Nolan movies have progressively gotten worse since Inception. This is a terrible movie.

 

Hope it isn't the end of a beautiful relationship. Hope there is a future for Nolan in the past. Whatever...😁😁😁

 

Rating: D

Edited September 17, 2020 by jb007

[filmlover]

Well this was...an experience. And a good one too overall, but it's easily my least favorite Nolan joint since Insomnia. Unlike a lot of people it seems, I thought the dialogue was easily understandable, even if it threatens to get drowned out by the immersive sound effects and Ludwig Goransson's booming score at times. Not as easy to understand, though, is Nolan's very convoluted script. Feels like one time where a more conventional approach would've served the material better. But it overcomes most of the writing issues through the top-notch production values and some of the most impressive action set pieces Nolan has put together yet (personal favorite was the highway one), and it's certainly never boring trying to piece together everything that's happening. John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who shows up late in the proceedings)...all do well with what they're given but the director is obviously the star of this show. Kenneth Branagh was a miscast though. Happy I saw it in a theater, but I hope that Nolan takes a break from these sort of massive scale productions after this to attempt something more along the lines of Memento again. B

[Cooper Legion]

Finally saw this. The theater experience was my first since... Little Women? Pretty great, my party of two had the whole main auditorium to ourself.   
 

The movie itself not so great. Setting aside the fact that it needed frikkin subtitles since like 15% of the dialogue is inaudible, there’s not much effort to get you invested in the characters and the plot wasn’t that interesting. The central inversion conceit is kind of fun and leads to some novel setpieces, but “fully suited up character was actually main character from the future” is pretty predictable for this kind of story. Didn’t find the Branagh character, the Debicki character, or the protagonist’s rapid interest in her at all engaging.   
 

To end on a positive note, I haven’t gotten around to seeing a lot of the smaller stuff Pattinson did post-Twilight, and I liked him here. Now more excited for his Batman.

[Omario]

Saw it yesterday in BFI IMAX.

 

I enjoyed it but I didn't understand shit! I probably heard about 40% of the dialogue. Just couldn't make out anything. It was frustrating in the beginning but then I just said screw it, just watch the image instead. Towards the end it sort of made sense but after watching it I googled what it was about. Finally understand it and can't believe I missed so much. I will be watching this again with subtitles. Because the concept is unique and the film is well made. The action was incredible and Nolans directing will always be amazing. But damn he needs to get new sound mixers. It was soooo bad. I know I saw it in IMAX and so the sound would be even louder than conventional cinemas but this is unforgivable. Since Bane every movie he has made had incomprehensible dialogue at times. But this one was just throughout the whole thing. I know I will enjoy it more with a subtitled viewing but it was upsetting to watch a movie and not understand most of it. 

 

Having said that the movie was just so well done not to enjoy it. Was a B- when the movie ended but once I read the story online I give it a B. I am sure with repeat viewings it will go up. 

 

 

B

[Webslinger]

As surreal as it feels to be writing about an ambitious new Christopher Nolan action film in the midst of a pandemic that has otherwise halted the releases of almost all other big budget movies, I’m happy to report that I enjoyed Tenet thoroughly. As one would expect of a Nolan film, Tenet is an ambitious spectacle with excellent action sequences and an engaging storyline that requires more thought than most other popcorn flicks. On the technical side, it boasts some very impressively orchestrated action sequences that once again demonstrate Nolan’s mastery behind the camera. As annoyed as I have been with Nolan’s insistence on this film opening theatrically as soon as possible (and the ramifications its soft box office performance has already had over theatrical exhibition in the age of coronavirus), these impressively staged and scaled sequences truly do demand a theatrical viewing, and they go a long way toward making the movie as wildly entertaining as it is. If there is an area where Tenet falls short of Nolan’s past efforts, however, it is character development. It feels as if Nolan is replicating the same minimal characterization he did in Dunkirk, but while that decision worked for that film’s stripped-down approach that regarded its characters as broad thematic representatives in a relatively simple  survival story, it leaves a little to be desired in a much longer film with a more complex story. That said, though the script does not develop its characters as fully as it could, the cast delivers uniformly solid performances that more than make up for any lack of depth on the page. John David Washington steps into the action hero role with such confidence and command that he makes it look easy and has no trouble carrying the film in front of the camera. Robert Pattinson makes for a fun sidekick, Elizabeth Debicki lends some heft to an underwritten role as the estranged wife of the villain, and Kenneth Branagh is in fine, understated form as said villain. The long running time moves at a quick clip, and though the material surrounding temporal paradoxes is not always as clear as it could be (as much as some viewers like to mock Ellen Page’s walking exposition in Inception, such a character would be helpful at times in this film), it is ultimately fairly easy to follow scene-to-scene. I suppose some viewers might come away from Tenet with a “that’s it?” mentality relative to Nolan’s greater successes (not to mention the “savior of cinema” angle it took on as the first huge release to hit screens after the March shutdown), but there’s more than enough to really savor in the film, and I ended up enjoying it thoroughly and look forward to taking it in again at some point. See it theatrically if you can (i.e. if you’re comfortable and it’s safe to do so in your area).

 

B+

 

Stray Thoughts:

- Damn, it's weird - yet also really nice? - to do the usual post-movie review and logging ritual I've mostly fallen out of since theaters first shut down in March. I penned a few mini-reviews for movies I watched at home, but I lost interest after a while.

 

- I actually didn't have as many issues with the sound mixing as others did, but yes, there were still spots where I wish Nolan had placed more emphasis on dialogue rather than sounds happening around it.

 

- I really wish I could have seen this in IMAX. I mean, I'm glad I got to see it in a theater at all, but I couldn't help but look at the 2.20:1 framing (which was letterboxed on a constant height screen set to 1.85:1) and wonder how great it would look in full-on IMAX.

[charlie Jatinder]

Nolan takes something of a ordinary film build around it an extraordinary world, in the end we all clap. This is his ordinary spy film, and here I clap. 7/10.

 

Will need one rewatch tho.

Edited December 1, 2020 by charlie Jatinder