Tenet

In order to create a good futurist/science fiction film, we need to play by some rules. First of all, if there is technology that is pivotal to the story, it behooves the writer or producer to let us know how it works. Also, what it does, exactly. This movie, while quite electrifying, doesn't bother. There is a type of time device that allows one to turn things backward, to reverse entropy, which we know will be the end of the world. Once this device, which is badly explained, becomes the focus, the movie travels through paths already seen a hundred times. It is all shooting, chasing, fighting, with enough explosions to fill up an hour. I looked forward to this but by the time I'd made through thirty minutes I was utterly bewildered. And don't tell me to watch it again. It should explain itself in one viewing..

I've seen a lot of hate for Tenet, but I honestly believe the movie will age very well, and a lot of the people who hate it now will come to realize just how ahead of its time it is. I will admit that it prioritizes concept over plot and character, and hard-to-hear dialogue has become a recurring problem for Nolan. But the movie is great, and I like it more the more I think about it. You don't need to be super smart to understand it, as some diehard Nolan fans claim, but I believe you do need to be fascinated enough by the philosophy of time to make it a pleasant experience. Without that, I think the movie will bore you and that boredom will probably lead you to miss some key points needed to fill in the puzzle. Filling in the puzzle doesn't mean you'll like it though, because this movie is an experimental thriller disguised as a blockbuster, which is not what people expected.

Hey, maybe I'm wrong, but I expect the love for this movie will grow over the years.

I'm not gonna lie, first viewing was a big letdown. As a Nolan fan myself, I was shocked to see what I considered "annoying bad" writing and sound design. The sound design still is a problem as of writing this, but upon second viewing, it was like a little switch flicked on every time I saw something I didn't understand from the last viewing. The little details that I considered bad writing suddenly seemed like an obvious answer. The cheesy parts I thought were, well cheesy, had so much more depth. I'm not going to spoil it, but thinking about The Protagonist and Neil makes me feel so many emotions that upon second viewing never made me feel the way I did, truly beautiful. No movie is perfect, this one definitely isn't perfect. This is no Dunkirk or Inception, but I guarantee this movie will make you use your brain.

Many reviewers say you have to watch this movie multiple times to really get it all. No, I won't do that. I say a good movie is understandable with one viewing where the viewer is paying attention.

This is a relatively simple story, told in a complex manner with lots of special effects and aggressive sound track. Our future civilization has figured a way to interact with the past and now, in our PRESENT they intend to correct a problem we caused them, and if necessary destroy the world as we know it. So the PRESENT day leaders have to prevent that.

My wife and I watched it on a 2-disc DVD set from our public library. Much of the dialog is difficult to understand because the actors often fail to enunciate, so I had to turn on subtitles about half-way through. The second DVD is filled with extras.

It is a pretty good, entertaining movie, but often very confusing. I would not put it in the top tier of favorite movies. Nolan's "Inception" for example is a much better movie.

Straightforward review:

Plot: Feels forced, cliche'd and had me facepalming in embarassment at several moments. Badly written villain, tired subplot of a damsel in distress. Its also not as complicated as I was led to believe, it's pretty straightforward actually. I saw comparisons to Primer, which in my opinion is a much better time-travel tale. This feels more like a James Bond movie with a time-travel element added to it.

Effects are done well, technically the movie is very well made. But it feels a bit over the top, almost Michael Bay-like at times.

Acting ranges from excellent to okay, the script doesn't help in this case but the actors do a good job considering. Pattinson is the standout for me.

All in all its not a bad movie to waste some time on, it's interesting enough to keep you engaged (was struggling to finish the last 30mins myself though). As far as mainstream blockbusters go it's decent.