Tenet Review: 4 Ups & 6 Downs
Is Nolan's 2020 blockbuster worth it?
Over the years, Christopher Nolan has increasingly become known as a filmmaker who alternates between "one for himself" (The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar), and "one for the studios" (returning for Dark Knight Rises, Dunkirk).
For Tenet he's hot off nailing the highest-grossing World War II movie ever, and being both Inception and Interstellar each grossed over half a billion dollars worldwide, it feels like he's increasingly been given carte blanche to do whatever comes to mind.
With that in mind, we have his barmiest concept yet. A movie directly about portrayals of time and entropy, which Nolan himself is adamant is not a "time travel movie". That's debatable once you know the entirety of what unfolds, but the main takeaway is that Tenet as a film is sadly one of his worst.
I'll break things down as we go, but up front, I'm a huge Nolan fan. I champion what he brings to the medium, and as a creative force, his output exists almost on an island all its own - big budget, sci-fi infused conceptual thrillers made for a mass audience.
Very few directors would be given the green light or marketing budget that Tenet has seen, and whilst there are positives, in a rather shocking turn considering his track record, there are far too many faults alongside.
First, the positives.
--
Note: There are NO SPOILERS in this review.