'Tenet' was a rare film to make it into any theatres since the COVID-19 business began in March. 'Tenet' arrived brand-new on Dec. 15 with 4K, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital releases. Here's my spiel on it.
TENET
Tenet's worldwide box office made over $362 million. And with little competition, only two other movies were bigger in the world for 2020 - The Eight Hundred (a Chinese film) and the Will Smith/Martin Lawrence starring 'Bad Boys for Life.'
Rotten Tomatoes came in with just 70%, which makes a 'Fresh' rating. But as always, like any movie, the numbers can be debatable.
Tenet is written, produced and directed by Christopher Nolan.
John David Washington (yes, actor Denzel Washington's son) leads a large international cast, which includes Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Caine and Kenneth Branagh.
'Tenet' is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, suggestive references, and brief strong language.
TAKE
Would I buy this film?
I would not at full price. It worked for a snowy or rainy day selection, though.
If you've never seen a Christopher Nolan movie - like 'The Dark Knight Trilogy,' 'Inception,' or 'Dunkirk' - I say it might be best to take a complete pass.
I agree with the 70% Rotten Tomatoes rating. I was never bored, but there are better movies out there.
Tenet is a time and mind-bending story. Your attention is required. It's not a movie to put on and do other things. And at two and a half hours long, nowadays, that's a long film for people. They may not like it just for that.
Washington plays the Protagonist. We don't find out a lot about him, not even his name. But he ends up within a secret organization called Tenet. (I had to Google that part.)
With help from Neil (Pattinson), they set out on a mission to get close to a Russian arms dealer named Andrei (Branagh), but they discover the Russian is set to destroy the world.
That's the basics. From there, it gets complicated.
The mind-bending starts with the discussion of time inversion. The inversion concept is about moving backwards in time. Your perception, you are moving as you usually do, while everything else is in reverse. (A flying bird goes backwards to where it took off.)
It's not like the movie ‘Back to the Future.’ There's no specific date and time to hit for time travel. If you want to go back in time a day, for example, you have to live that day in reverse.
In a scene with bullet holes in the wall, we see the gun firing before the holes appear. But inverted objects, we see the bullet holes before the gun even fires.
As the movie says, it might be best to 'Don't try to understand it."
My big negative is not even these complex discussions. I have to pick the sound of the movie, which becomes, at times, rather annoying. Perhaps, if you have a good sound system, it might feel like a movie theatre. But everything is so loud for when characters talk they get drowned out in quite a few scenes. It was a constant turning up and down the volume.
On the flip side, Washington and Pattinson, I thought, were very good with what they got to do. Some of the action is rather impressive. A few sequences are unlike anything I’ve ever seen in any movie. Like a fight filmed forwards and backwards among other scenes using the same technique.
As I said, I didn't find it a great movie overall, but I still might watch again someday to catch more details. But I’m not in any hurry. If you are curious, give 'Tenet' a try.
For any Christopher Nolan starters, though, I think 'Inception' (stars Leonardo DiCapiro) is the better one to pick for a bit of a complicated story. I’ve seen it at least twice.
SPECIAL FEATURES OVERVIEW
If you liked the movie, and want to dive deeper into the production this feature is worth the watch. This covers many behind-the-scenes aspects from casting, music, and the fact they crashed a real Boeing 747 plane into a real hanger. Every location was set around the world, or a spot was built from scratch. The production shut down an actual highway for a couple of weeks for the car chase. There’s the planning of the hand-to-hand fight – people had to practice walking and the moves backwards too, and how to film this forwards and backwards (with no special effects.)
Warner Brothers Home Entertainment
