If this palindromic thriller was the film to save us from lockdown then I’d prefer you throw me back inside, lock the door and throw away the key. Here’s our Tenet 4DX review.
The film Christopher Nolan was adamant would save cinema is well, a bit pants.
Warner Bros plunged a staggering amount of money into this original movie and many will walk out of the cinema confused at what they just watched.
Viewers will exit the theatres still questioning if they actually enjoyed it or not.
A mind-bending, audience alienating mess.
A movie that fully describes 2020 in a nutshell, absolutely bonkers!
Now, this assessment could purely be down to my lack of intellect or just the fact that the only people who could understand this movie are the people who made it.
Tenet is a visual spectacle, a puzzle within a puzzle within a puzzle with absolutely zero substance, character development or any general idea or explanation of what it is trying to convey.
A film that loses its audience for it’s opening 60 minutes before finally allowing us to peek in.
From a story standpoint, there are so many questions to be asked than answered here as the credits roll and you’re questioning if you enjoyed the film or not or questioning if you can truly enjoy something you never will fully understand.
The main idea is simple but so convoluted is the plot, layered with exposition and meaningless characters that we couldn’t care less about.
Tenet revolves around the concept that in the future a World War 3 or Nuclear type war or event will occur.
Our protagonist (John David Washington) is an agent that has somehow landed in this scenario of inversion.
A timeline where we move forward as normal but our actions are reversed in an alternate parallel timeframe.
This is somewhat explained with two bullets on a table where one bullet stays on the table but one is reversed back into the hand of a lab assistant who placed the bullet down before the ‘reverse’ happens.
Our protagonist is mid-late thirties and he’s only been exposed to this inverse cause and effect now? At the start of the movie, a character says “Don’t think about it too much”
I think that is the perfect dialogue for us as the audience when watching this absolute headache-inducing minefield.
John David Washington, Robert Pattison and even Andrei Sator (A Russian Oligarch played by Kenneth Branagh) are criminally wasted.
Zero development goes towards these characters as they are merely serving as pawns in Nolan’s little trigger happy playtime with the reverse button that you’d find in simple video-editing softwares such as iMovie.
All of the leading stars feel like bit-part players to a much wider picture. A picture that is never revealed, discussed or explained to us in any way shape or form.
Sator’s wife Kat (Elizabeth Debecki) is thrust into this whirlwind adventure with absolutely no explanation to us as to why she’s there.
We’re also asking why that within 10 seconds of meeting this woman our protagonist (John David Washington) suddenly wants to protect her, risk his life for her to help her and her son (a son we see for around 10 seconds might I add).
It makes absolutely no sense!
It’s like within 10 seconds we’re being force-fed this chemistry that has had no time to build.
In this case, the chemistry teacher should be fired as there’s zero spark between them from start to finish and it renders that little side plot rather useless.
A word that could be used to describe every character development within this particular feature.
With Kenneth Branagh doing his best bond villain acting, planes crashing into airport terminals in Casino Royale fashion, fancy yachts and epic fight scenes it feels like we’re watching an audition tape for Nolan to direct the next Bond movie.
It all feels very samey samey.
What I did enjoy was some of the cinematic shots that brought back memories of the Nolan movies that made more sense.
An opera scene at the start of the film was shot from behind as one-paced through the auditorium, shot with exactly the same style and sinisterism as when Bane enters the stock exchange in Dark Knight Rises.
I enjoyed the cinematography a lot.
As a whole Interstellar and Inception were far easier to understand and much better examples of what Christopher Nolan is capable of.
I didn’t enjoy it, I got quite bored of the same repeated action sequences and the 4DX was all but useless resorting to a seat jolt once in a while completely uncalibrated and highly disappointing.
A 4DX screening with about a full 60 seconds of 4DX movement. What a waste of money.
Once again, when it comes to 4DX. Just stick to the Disney films as they seem to be the only company that care about making a 4DX experience worthwhile to their audience.
Get ready to see all the top film websites in the world saying it’s ‘A Masterpiece’ or that it’s ‘Nolan’s Best Film to Date’ and all the rest of it.
A masterpiece it is not as a diehard fanbase try to cling onto this feature as some sort of lockdown salvation to get our bums back on cinema seats.
Not only has this film flopped by the outrageous decision from Mr. Nolan to get it on screens during a pandemic but it hasn’t hit home with audiences whatsoever.
Convoluted in every department, a film that holds too much from its audience and expects us to fill in the blanks.
Packed high with unnecessary relationship developments that don’t make sense or ‘develop’ with only special effects, set pieces and cinematography saving this otherwise drab, dull, headache-inducing affair.
The film to save cinema? No.
If I were you, for the time being, I’d just stay at home.
Tenet 4DX Review by Sean Evans
Our Rating
Summary
Don’t get me wrong the set pieces, the reverse fight sequences, everything you see on screen is pleasing on the eye but for two hours you’re in total confusion, feeling like you’re the dumbest person in the cinema for not understanding what is happening on screen.
Some clarity or explanation next time would be nice Mr.Nolan!
