Tenet: An Overly Complicated Spy Thriller
Christopher Nolan’s latest, Tenet (or more appropriately TeneT), is a sleek, yet convoluted spy thriller full of mind-melting action. Somewhat of a cross between Memento and Inception on steroids (if that’s your kink), Tenet is a definite cinematic spectacle, but it’s one that buckles hard under the weight of its own gimmick.
Armed with only one word, Tenet, and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.
It’s no secret that Christopher Nolan has been a long time fan of 007 and the James Bond films — in fact, he was even rumored to have been directing one at one point, but only if he could put his own spin on it. It’s also no secret that Nolan has an obsessive fascination with all things time related. Up until now, these two loves had yet to explicitly commingle, but Tenet balls them both up into the kind of grand, head-scratching display that is singularly Nolan. His reimagined James Bond is unnecessarily convoluted and lathered thick in gimmickry, lacking much of the charisma and character that makes 007 such a long-standing classic.
Tenet is an absolute spectacle full of astounding technical achievement that’s easy to become lost in, but when you really get down to it, it doesn’t have much meat on its bones. Although it is disguised as something fresh and new, at its core, it’s the same old spy thriller where some super villain’s threat to destroy the world gets thwarted, and it doesn’t have anything new to add outside of its time-inversion concept. It’s not without its moments of cleverness, but overall, the writing is pretty lackluster and the whole affair is so overly complicated that it might make your head hurt. In a lot of respects, the film’s narrative is nothing more than a clothesline to hang exotic locations and action set pieces on; everything feels like a running checklist of typical spy elements that have been dolled up with time inversion nonsense and special effects.
The dialogue, in particular, is very unnatural and wooden. It doesn’t help that there’s quite a lot of exposition to wade through either (because the time inversion needs to be explained, and the global threat, and the special task force, and the characters, and the timeline nonsense, and how they pulled it off). While Nolan doles this out in between insane action sequences in fairly digestible chunks, it’s hard to stay with that film as it fractures into multiple timelines. It zips along at such a blistering pace and is obscured by the pulsing synth score that dominates the audio track that it’s incredibly difficult to fully absorb or process much of any of it — which seems to be partially by design since Nolan pulls the same trick in Inception but with much greater effect. There will definitely come a point in which you’ll become confused or feel lost, but as Tenet closes the loop on its endless cycle, Nolan brings the story into clear focus for once, giving it a memorable bittersweet ending.
What it lacks in substance, it makes up for in inspiration though. Nolan draws from some cool concepts (like the Sator square) to give the film its shape and inform its structure, creating an interesting (though superfluously complex) puzzle for audiences to solve (if they care to), which has spurned some interesting theories. The action sequences are completely bonkers and must have been a nightmare to choreograph and work out. Many involve fights in which characters are moving forward in time while their opposition is moving backwards in time. It’s stuff that defies logic in all senses, but it sure is nifty to watch. The actors do a good job of fleshing out the little they’ve been given, but most still come across a bit like two-dimensional caricatures. The performances are fine down the line, but it’s Pattinson who stands out most, and in many ways he’s the film’s emotional center.
Equal parts operatic and nonsensical, Tenet is a cerebral actioner that only Christopher Nolan could put together, for better or worse. It’s entertaining enough, but somewhat difficult to connect with. While it may flounder to a surprising and somewhat satisfying close, Tenet is nothing more than empty spectacle that takes Nolan’s technical artistry to new heights.
Recommendation: Fans of Christopher Nolan will find much to be awestruck about; however, after the spectacle wears off, Tenet feels more like a gimmick than a film. Sure, you could peep these new “thrills,” or you could just watch Inception again.
Rating: 3 inverted stunts outta 5.
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