The Owl's Eyes
- Apr 20, 2021
- 6 min read

Tenet: Time waits for No One

Updated: Jan 29, 2023

Reviews by:

@the_owlseyes
@augustkellerwrites
@silverscreencritiques

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This is the end. Love it or hate, his movies will be tied to you, like this one. Here his qualities, good and bad, are extolled to their peak. I think that Nolan is not a perfect director and writer but one of our generation's best. It lives up to the expectations and impress with a cunning concept, breathless action and a throbbing soundtrack. It gets better and better with every revision.

AVERAGE: 7,28

Costumes: 6/10

Soundtrack: 8/10

Special Effects: 8/10

Editing: 9/10

Photography: 8/10

Acting: 9/10

Script: 9/10

CONCLUSION

Costumes: 6/10

There's the pretty deatail of colors which is subtle here but prominent in the climax.

It's hard to fail this section. Well, it doesn't. Nothing exceptional but it works.

COSTUMES

And here there's also the reversed one for the sake of logic.

Soundtrack: 8/10

The same could be seen in Interstellar, where is applied for the same reason. Usually a director do it because the dialogues of a scene are not essential and this seems the case, even though the dialogues are pretty relevant in a Nolan's movie. It's a fair criticism but seems, again, so intentional. Nonetheless the principal criticism about it is the strange loudness, which dims the dialogues. It's a remarkable job, considering that the composer had to work from home due to the pandemic. Pounding and bewitching tones align beautifully with the movie, enhancing action scenes and quiet ones. Ludwig Göransson do an excellent job with the soundtrack.

SOUNDTRACK

Special Effects: 8/10

Don't you think? This is more than enough. As I said before there's so little that they seems absent.

SPECIAL EFFECTS

Editing: 9/10

I want to praise Nolan's ability to shot an action scenes without an excess of shaky cameras and fast cuts. You will think about it for a while, because reversed scenes are out of this world. This is very good. Editing, acting and a little dose of cgi helped achieving some memorable scenes.

EDITING

Photography: 8/10

Visual storytelling has always been a Nolan's staple, Interstellar is where it's amped to the maximum, and here it shines. Red and Blue are there to represent the timelines, sometimes it's highly evident, sometimes is sharply subtle. Marvellous scenes, shots like a paint and clever use of color.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Acting: 9/10

The acting wasn't limited to just being good but the actors had to learn how to talk backwards, Branagh did it with a Russian accent, and to play a scene backwards. Mind blowing. This movie has also an excellent supporting cast made of Michael Caine, a Nolan's regular, Himesh Patel, Aaron Taylor Johnson and Fiona Dourif. Kenneth Branagh's Sator is intimidating his russian accent is believable, even though is playing a Bond villain. Elizabeth Debicky is the emotional core of the movie and she's able to have a good range. Now he's building a better image of himself, to make Twilight seem lik a distant memory, and it's noticeable in other movies like The Lighthouse and Good Time. I'm loooking forward to see his Batman's portrayal. Pattinson impressed me a lot. That's strange because is the shortest in the cast. Washington is a very charismatic actor who commands the scene with his physicality. It's top notch and there's a lot of talent here.

ACTING

Script: 9/10

I don't know if you ever thought about it but time has always been a key component of Nolan's movie and this work seems the culmination of all his previous experiences. Almost everyone of them is memorable and some will remind you of his previous works like The Dark Knight, Memento and The Prestige. Maybe the concept will be hard to get but you can still enjoy the typical action scenes of a Nolan's movie. The throng of breathless information you experience might overwhelm you the first you, this is why it lends to multiple revisals. Yes, sometimes the main character indulges in exposition, but not to the point of boredom. It achieves perfection through neatness. The story is perfectly paced and every scene is necessary to the plot, to the point that seems maniacal. This is why the movie doesn't suffer the lack of characterization but it builds on it an explosive narrative. And I'm not joking, John David Washington character doesn't have a name and he's credited like that. Nonetheless he tries to give an emotional motivation to The Protagonist, a name which is self-aware and an audience's troll. In fact Nolan admitted that all the characters were inspired by the 007 saga, and we to admit that James Bond, his villains and lovers have never been full rounded character till more recent outings like Casino Royale and Skyfall. We are talking about the same guy who made Inception and Interstellar, two character driven pieces, and it's not a sin. There's been a consistent volume of criticism toward them and it's almost understandable if you're not aware that it was intentional. The other players seems more like voyagers. In fact, concept is the main character. The choice to make a concept driven movie is a bold one.

SCRIPT

"Armed with only one word, Tenet, and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time" or "Don't understand it. Feel it"

PLOT

What he came up with is what you're experiencing now. It seemed logical after the slew of movies concerning the argument which were released in the same time frame, like Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse and Avengers: Endgame. Nolan is known for being a genial storyteller and visionary director and wanted to challenge the concept. Sci-fi movies has approached in different ways but I would say that Primer, an indie hard sci-fi movie, almost reached perfection. Time Travel movies are tricky and are a bit of a cliche. It's hard to create an original and cohesive story because we don't know how moving through time really works.

By @the_owlseyes

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To say the least, Tenet is complex. Some say it's too elaborate for its own good. However, despite turning off certain viewers, the film's tangled plot deserves applause for its detail and fearlessness. Few contemporary films bring genuine originality, surprise, and genre-blending to wide audiences. Christopher Nolan has proven that he can still hit that neglected target. And this is all just on a written level. Yes, Tenet is occasionally dry, lacks characterization, and could have been more streamlined. But those forgivable flaws are greatly outweighed by a riveting story that is both familiar and fresh.

Meanwhile, Tenet is a well-rounded film. The sound design has gotten backlash for its quiet dialogue, but that front also provides complex sound effects and abstract moments. The editing is elegant but energized, the acting is strong, and the imagery is grand. The production design is a graceful balance of chic espionage and tasteful sci-fi. The music is sophisticated, ambient, and relevant. The special effects are expertly unique and minimally computerized, deepening their impact and timelessness. Collectively, this creates a distinct atmosphere that is a dream come true. Conclusively, Nolan is a master of making his visions into realities.

Writing: 9/10

Direction: 10/10

Cinematography: 8/10

Acting: 8/10

Editing: 8/10

Sound: 8/10

Score/Soundtrack: 9/10

Production Design: 9/10

Casting: 8/10

Effects: 10/10

Overall Score: 8.7/10

For more of my work: https://guskeller.wixsite.com/moviefilmreviews

By @augustkellerwrites

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If this is a favorite of yours, then I'm glad! I wish I liked it, but I don't. Of course, you can like what you like, that has nothing to do with me. This is just my take on the film. If anyone thinks or says that I "Just didn't get/understand it" I do understand what's going on. It wasn't hard for me to follow it.

Out of all his films, this is the Nolan-iest of all. I can't help but see this film as Nolan high on his own power and influence. He tries so hard in the film to be as confusing as possible, if you don't understand what's going, don't feel bad. That's what Nolan was trying to do. It's almost as if he was trying to make himself look smarter. For one conversation, there's like 20 different shots and cuts. There's only so much an actor/actress can do when it comes to his scripts and shooting techniques. Shooting conversations was never his strong suit, but this is probably the worst he's captured it. You don't have to be as good as Richard Linklater or David Fincher to capture dialogue, but an attempt to be better would be appreciated.

Many of Nolan's weaknesses as a film maker are very apparent here. There's a huge issue with the sound design which makes it even more confusing if you can't hear them. The characters are his blandest yet, but he made them that way on purpose. The main character's name is "The Protagonist" but that doesn't add any interesting commentary or make the film more complex, it just comes across as self-aware laziness.

Unfortunately, the visual style here is also bland, which Nolan's other films do have a nice visual style. This one just looks like any other generic action movie out there, an action movie with big set pieces.

I find it very unfortunate that this is the movie he made after Dunkirk. Dunkirk is one of his best, if not the best, in his filmography. I go back and forth between Dunkirk and The Prestige as my #1. Nolan went from one of his best films to his worst film, in my opinion. There are things to like about Tenet, the set designs, of course, the score is effective sometimes, and the action scenes are fine. But overall, I was massively disappointed in this. It's so self serious and arrogant. I've been tempted to revisit it to see if I can see anything else in the film or to see if I'll change my mind on it, but I haven't.

By @silverscreencritiques

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