Tenet is the latest film by Christopher Nolan follows the story of the Protagonist, a secret agent who embarks on a journey along with Neil on a mind-bending mission to save the world from World War -III. A mess or a masterpiece?
You must be living under a rock if you have not checked out the previous films of the Nolanverse.
This film ticks most of the boxes of a Nolan film successfully - ambitious world-building, awe-inspiring visuals, slick action set pieces (where you see people and objects moving in a reverse direction!) and scientific explanations which will go over your head unless you have a PhD in Physics.
The music by the Swede, Ludwig Göransson (who also scored for films like "Black Panther" and "Creed") is pulse-pounding and charges you up with the electronic beats. Especially the track in the prologue "Rainy Night in Tallin" is terrific. Did a good job in filling Hans Zimmer’s shoes. But the usual magic in the soundtrack is missing.
John Washington as the Protagonist is grounded but he has no personality of his own. He does not have the charisma of other action heroes like Bond, Bourne or John Wick which makes those films extra stylish.
Robert Pattinson as Neil just pulls off the character with ease. His character arc is very satisfying, once all the pieces of the puzzle start to form the bigger picture.
My favourite element of a Nolan film which is missing in Tenet is his usual knack to combine emotion with spectacle.
Films like Inception and Interstellar are some of the fan favourites not just because they are mind-blowing stories with picturesque visuals, but also because you are emotionally invested in the central characters.
In Inception, you root for DiCaprio to meet his children, in Interstellar the father-daughter relationship transcends the scientific jargons and pulls the heartstrings of all the viewers.
Contrastingly in Tenet, we see John Washington and Robert Pattinson travelling across the globe, blazing guns and scratching their heads just like us, wondering what and why everything is happening. The emotionally distant characters make you feel nothing.
The motivations of the Protagonist and antagonists remain unknown almost till the end of the movie, by that time the worst possible thing which could happen to a viewer happens: you become indifferent and cease to care anymore.
I think even Nolan was aware of this inherent flaw in this movie, so we can see that he tried to cover it up with the character of Kat who is supposed to be the emotional core of the film. She is a damsel in distress in an abusive relationship and we are supposed to care for her as opposed to saving the world. When she gets to know that humanity will die if they fail in the mission, she says: “Will my son die too?” Seriously, do you think that is my priority now?
If you had already watched enough sci-fi films, the big reveal also doesn't give you the intellectual orgasm you usually get at the end of a Nolan film. It is yet again the same old trick.
To sum it up, Tenet is more like someone tried to make a pale imitation of a Nolan film. The ingredients are the same, but the taste turns out to be bad. This just reiterates how difficult it is to pull off a perfect Nolan film which he has been effortlessly doing for years.
Despite not being the complete Nolan package, this film deserves a watch for its audacity and Nolan's never-ending pursuit to push the limits of cinema.
Image source Google
Thanks for Reading
0 Comments