Film Review — Tenet
★★☆☆☆
A CIA operative (Washington) is recruited by a mysterious organisation and tasked with stopping a Russian oligarch from unleashing a temporal weapon.
In 2010 Christopher Nolan gave us Inception, a mind-bending, high-concept sci-fi thriller that captured the hearts and minds of cinephiles and multiplex casuals alike. Despite the considerable pre-release hype and endless speculation, Tenet, arriving a decade after Nolan’s magnum opus, does not provide nearly the same satisfying experience.
The looks and sounds of Tenet offer something resembling an experience that should only be enjoyed on the biggest and best screen possible, but there’s little substance beneath its appealing surface. Well, there is substance, but it’s mostly incomprehensible pseudo-science gibberish, uttered in hushed and muffled tones by the film’s parade of frustratingly masked or accented “characters”.
Movies shouldn’t need multiple watches to unlock vague comprehension, and they definitely shouldn’t require a MENSA membership.
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh
Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema
Music: Ludwig Goransson
Running time: 150 mins
Release year: 2020
BBFC rating: 12 for moderate violence, threat, domestic abuse, infrequent strong language
