A few films are as hotly debated, quantified and emphasized as Christopher Nolan‘s Tenet, a movie that became a flash point before anyone ever saw it even knew what it was about (time travel, he, reversal?) Set to be one of the great films for summer events of 2020, even if the landscape, both cultural and otherwise, it was an immovable object, even as it became clear that the coronavirus pandemic would change everything dramatically, leading to to the first summer ever where new releases came exclusively via streaming services or paid video-on-demand. Even Disney, mad Mulan was bounced back from the original opening of the spring and promised to be a movie that could potentially get American audiences back in cinemas, went to Disney + in a paid scenario for ‘premier access’. However, Nolan, once the fan of big exhibition (and in particular the IMAX format) stepped forward damn well. And with Tenet finally debuted abroad and in select cinemas of America new week the first reviews started to come. And the most important takeaway, at least for now, is that all that fist was over this one?
Below is a roundup of some of the reviews that have already come out; we will do our best to stay away from spoilers and deliver only wide streaks.
Image via Warner Bros.
The Guardian calls the film a “palindromic dud” in its 2-star review. Catherine Shoard said against the security issues associated with the release of the film, “Happy, really, because Tenet is not a movie, it’s worth the nervous courage to watch a trip to the big screen, no matter how safe it is. I’m not even sure it would be worth it in five years to stop getting telly. “Ouch. According to Shoard, Tenet can be dazzling, but it is also strangely dull. “For all Tenet’s technical ambition, the plot gets rotten and the interior tired. Eastern European difficulties wander with tongs and meat flaps. Bells are ticking literally. Synths cry deep across the soundtrack. Concluding her review, she said: ‘The world is more than ready for a fantastic blockbuster, especially one that avoids using face masks and talking about going back in time to prevent disaster. It’s a real shame Tenet is not it. ‘
IndieWIRE was not unimpressed, and gave the film a C-grade. Reviewer Mike McCahill also finds it somewhat of a humorless slog. ‘Where did it all go wrong? Deep in the film’s filtered DNA, there are traces of a bustling, borderline, city-hopping trunk. Turn back time! Cinemas reopen! Save the world! “Cahill moaned. He continues:” But there is no levity in it Tenet: Nolan just turns back time in an attempt to bring dead ideas back to life. And if he could not imagine that movie nights of Saturday night were with her, it feels doubly sad that a movie that tries to lure us all outside should visit these many locations and not even make us feel sunlight like fresh air on our faces. Visually and mentally gray, Tenet is too tight to have fun with his starting point; it is a cut-ins barber, which may not prevent it from becoming an escape battle. “McCahill’s latest blushes are for Nolan himself, because he calls the famous director” a very trying, ungenerous, ever-so-something-boring boy. ” That’s what I call a spanking!
Image via Warner Bros.
Even some of the “good” reviews are not all that impressed. Time Out New York gave the film a serviceable 3-star rating, but said there was a familiarity with the mechanics of the movie’s spy movie. “Christopher Nolan’s frosty espionage sci-fi delivers visual intensity but little heart,” writes Phil de Semlyen. The BBC also awarded it 3 stars, with critic Nicholas Barber calling Tenet “noisy, extravagant and fundamentally ridiculous pulp fiction.” In concluding his review, Barber said: ‘It falls into place under the weight of all the plot strings and concepts contained therein. You get the impression, which you usually get from his films, that each element is exactly where it needs to be. Some parts of it last too long, others not long enough. It’s a treat to see a really great movie again, but a smaller movie might have been better. In other words: at least 2 of those stars feel benevolent.
But not everyone did not like it Tenet. Jordan Farley, who wrote for Total Film / Games Radar, gave the film a perfect score (5 out of 5 stars). “A monumental spectacle on the big screen, Tenet is a film that perfectly illustrates what makes the cinema experience – in all its heartbreaking grandeur – quite so special, ”Farley wrote. He called later Tenet “An all too rare example of a master filmmaker putting everything on the table, with, you think, not compromising a modicum of his vision.” Dang! Fellow games website IGN also gave it a high score, which you can view below.
The very brilliant Jessica Kiang, writing for the New York Times, loved the film but shouted Tenet “Massively reassuring in every way – except thematically.” Later in her review she said: “Tenet blinds the senses, but it does not move the heart – a critique common to all of Nolan’s original films. “Later she said, ‘But it is not only lack of heart that holds Tenet back. Nolan imagines impossible technologies, but does not explore their deeper implications. Yet Kiang was impressed by the action set pieces and the men’s fashion. ‘Seek it out, only to marvel at the entertaining maddening glory of what we once had and are in danger of never having again. That, and the packs, ‘she wrote. (The big deal, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, had the same thing to say – fit entertaining perhaps, but hardly revolutionary.)
So you have to risk your life to see Tenet? Probably not. But if you feel safe and are near a theater that shows it, it can be a really good time in the movies.
