This review is spoiler free.

Hello.

I was talking to some super fans of South West London’s eighteenth best film blog.They said they only really read the beginning  and maybe the end, skipping the middle, which in my opinion is actually the only part of the blog with substance. Then I got thinking… What if I started the blog with the middle, then the end, then go back to the beginning, then the end again and then the middle, ending with the beginning. No, that would be convoluted and difficult.

Tenet is a film which starts in the middle, then the end, then goes back to the beginning, then the end again and then the middle, ending with the beginning*. Described very loosely as Inception with time by some people I think it’s an oversimplification, however it catches the style of the film pretty well. The film sees John David Washington’s protagonist sacrifice himself in an epic opening scene, before he survives and is picked up by a mysterious organisation who tell him to use the word “Tenet” sometimes. I mean, he only used it once, so it was hardly important, however it was a palindrome and a convenient mysterious title. Anyway, he must investigate bullets which are inverted, i.e. they travel from the wall they were shot at back into the gun when it’s fired. Soon this escalates and he and Robert Patterson go to save the world with the power of some form of time travel.

We start really slowly. The first act is a bit of a Hufflepuff as we see people just say silly words and travel around and meet Michael Caine while you don’t get what’s happening. However, it soon amps up with a second act meticulously put together, answering every question and paying off each small detail. Some things were a bit predictable, but overall it was smart. Kudos to Christopher Nolan for actually treating his audience like they have at least a shred of intelligence.

The effects were spectacular as well. This was the first new “loud” film I’d watched at the cinema since lockdown (I’d watched Dunkirk, but this one was even bigger). There were explosions, it was loud, vibrating and electric and why cinema will exist regardless of streaming services. This isn’t one to watch on a small screen torrent. It was full of energy. The set pieces near the end were marvellous and so well made. Technically they would have been difficult to act and put together, so each background actor or the effects guys really did a great job. It’s difficult to say how great these were without spoiling the film.

The film is far from perfect, focussing on grandeur more than intricacies. I didn’t really care for the protagonist character and that was more due to the script than Washington. The wife wasn’t interesting either. The villain had potential, but instead was the lazy Russian accented caricature you’re used to in the genre. I didn’t really feel the stakes either. They were only discussed briefly over some bland dialogue, so the winner wasn’t huge.

Summary

Simpler to understand than Inception, Nolan’s Tenet is a continuation of cinema as opposed to a revolution. The first release which must be watched on a big screen, he does what he knows well leading to an impressive, if hollow, spectacle. If you like Inception/Interstellar, you’ll like this film. If not, then it’s probably not for you. I enjoyed it. [Grade: B]

*It may not fully go like that, but you don’t come here for accuracy.