Release date: 26th August 2020
Run time: 150 minutes
Certificate: 12A
I'm writing this review whilst listening to Ludwig Goransson's brilliant original score for Tenet so forgive me if it seems like I'm writing quickly and forgetting simple punctuation or not finishing sentences and instead just continuing to write until I hyperventilate those drums are still pounding it's so intense. This hopefully gives a small insight into how Goransson's score - and on a wider scale the film itself - makes you feel, which is really meant in the best way. Tenet is one of the most dynamic, breathless and audacious films of Nolan's filmography and of the last few years. It's confusing, it's slightly pretentious, but it's a must-see (unless you are of a nervous disposition). Christopher Nolan is one of those directors where really you have to see his films in the cinema for the best experience. Tenet is no different.
Within about 20 seconds of the film starting, we are introduced to a group of terrorists storming a concert hall in Kiev. It grabs your attention instantly with the fast-paced camerawork and immediate public danger (a situation much-loved by Nolan) and sets up the rest of the film quite perfectly. To reference Goransson's score in more detail, it has shades of Hans Zimmer (who previously scored to great effect Nolan films such as The Dark Knight and Inception) and is similarly bombastic, but it still manages to carve out its own unique soundscape. There is perhaps, if possible, even more intensity and heaviness to this score, with some techno drumbeats and electronic sounds thrown in for good measure. Following his Oscar win for Black Panther, this only further cements Goransson's place as one of the best mainstream film composers out there.
After the concert hall opener, there is some room to breath, for a moment at least. The story is set up swiftly and takes flight again, centering John David Washington's protagonist within what is described as worse than World War III. I say protagonist but it really should be capitalised; Washington's character is only ever referred to as The Protagonist, which works both positively and negatively for the film. On the one hand it adds to the effortlessly cool persona he exudes. Washington plays the part superbly and delivers witty one-liners with such great charisma. On the flipside, the emotional arc of the film is slightly weakened; whereas in Inception Leonardo DiCaprio's Dom Cobb is someone you connect with, in Tenet there is a distance between the audience and Washington's character. Nolan may well have intended this, focussing the emotional weight more on Elizabeth Debicki's Kat Sator. It is true you connect more with her character and story, helped by a subtle but strong performance from Debicki, but it never scales the heights of films like Inception and there just aren't too many emotional chills.
In part this is also down to the story. The confusing, complex story about the inversion of entropies (lost yet?). Nolan does not hold the audiences hand at any time - to be fair he never has in any of his films - but with Tenet he also seems to be smirking in your face whilst slapping your hand away. He knows what he is doing and the script is very self-referential to this fact, with characters frequently stating they don't understand what is going on or urging others to not try too hard to understand. It is a lot to get your hand around which at times detracts from the action and emotion. Sometimes you're too just too busy trying to work out what it all means. Conversely, the concept of inversion creates some beautiful set-piece moments; a highlight includes a character fighting an inverted character, the latter fighting backwards and the former fighting forwards (still lost?).
But the complexities are also what makes Tenet so great. It is audacious, ambitious and so outlandishly intricate that it will require multiple viewings, which is really no bad thing considering it is one of the best action films to come out for several years. It does everything right in that respect, never losing its dynamism and always keeping the audience enthralled. In time, inverted or otherwise, and after some more viewings, Tenet may just stand with the likes of Inception or Memento as Nolan's finest works.
4/5
A perfect film to welcome cinema-goers back to the big screen; bombastic, thrilling, baffling, outrageous. Nolan is one of the bravest and most unique directors out there.