Tenet in review, Part Three
I wasn’t expecting to have to introduce a third part to my ‘Tenet’ review. Alas, here I am again: I don’t really know what to say! I’m writing this intro with the rest of the article already finished, so I can tell you exactly what you’ll be met with in this post - carry on reading if you’d like my take on: Tenet’s action scenes; Nolan’s practical effects; the movie’s characters, and the funniness in the script. Oh, and how can I forget, I’ll finally be able to share my review score for the film at the end of this article. I can’t think of anything else I want to say, apart from - I hope that you enjoy the last part of my 'Tenet' review!
One of my favourite bits about this film is the way that it’s structured around epic set pieces. As with any movie, we’re taken through such moments in the natural course of the story. This would be good enough in ‘Tenet’, as Nolan’s practical effects work stupendously in the big cinematic scenes. The ‘inversion’ twist in this film allows us to experience these glorious set pieces twice though (once in linear time, and then again when the protagonist is travelling back through time). It’s not just the fact that we’re seeing them twice - we’re experiencing inversion in all its glory when we come back round to the big moments (e.g. the fist-fight in the Free Port, and the fire/ice thing when the Protagonist crashes his car). I absolutely love this about ‘Tenet’. This is another example of the film’s awesome plot - the writers have really made the most of ‘Inversion’ in this way. It keeps the film exciting and action-packed - what more can you ask for. The set pieces still need to be good though - for this inversion to be meaningful - and they are. The Opera siege; the plane crash; the moving-Heist and the Red-team/Blue-team mountain assault. These are all innovative action fixtures, and they lend themselves excellently to reversal. I’ve never seen moments like some of these in action films before - I’ve certainly never seen them executed with such amazing practical effects. I love a movie with practical effects (as opposed to death-by-CGI). Christopher Nolan hasn’t had to compromise on the magnitude of his set pieces by using practical effects, which is important to mention. He’s no martyr or snob in that respect. ‘Tenet(‘s)’ action sequences are seriously ambitious, and triumphantly successful. There’s just something impressive about a film that uses practical effects - this is even more true for ‘Tenet’, where inversion is thrown into the mix. Nolan’s movie gets all of my praise for this.
My review would not be complete without a word to ‘Tenet(‘s)’ characters, and the actors behind them. There isn’t a wasted character in the movie, with flawless casting to boot. The Nolan-produced throng is particularly strong, I reckon. John David Washington, as the ‘protagonist’, makes for an excellent superspy with his suave and charismatic manner. The central man gives me exactly what I want from an espionage film: sharp suits, cutting wit, and pure pugilism. Robert Pattinson’s ‘Neil’ adds to this too (without the pugilism). Indeed, I’d say that the latter is the film’s best character. There’s something lovable about ‘Neil’ - he’s the charming and good-natured foil to JDW’s ‘protagonist’. Bob Pattinson was made for this role - he played it superbly. The same can be said for Kenneth Branagh and his part, ‘Sator’. As much as I don’t really like Branagh, I have to admit that he was superb in ‘Tenet’. The Irish actor gave the film’s main villain authentic nastiness. ‘Sator’ was cold, hard, and dead behind the eyes. The Nolans wrote the character brilliantly: they give us just enough evidence of his ruthlessness, throughout the film, to make his ultimate goal (which is explained in his final monologue) convincing. His backstory is crucial in this illusion too: we come to understand that he values wealth over health, which goes a long way in explaining his villainous motives (he is paid by a future generation to destroy his own civilisation). Kenneth Branagh brings this to life - all too convincingly. Elizabeth Debicki impresses in her role as Kat too. She flips between unease and self-assurance with skilful subtlety. I think that she captured the essence of being trapped commendably. I’d finally like to say that I appreciated the beard action from Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Himesh Patel. They completed the collection with John David Washington. I couldn’t think of a more suave group of people to trust with the future of the world.
My only gripe regarding the people of ‘Tenet’ is that Himesh Patel’s character comes out of nowhere. He orchestrates the plane crash for no apparent payment or reward. Why would he jeopardize his job, and his freedom (with prison almost certainly on the line), for two people (JDW and Neil) he’s seemingly only just met? Maybe I missed a line of explanation in the film; if this is the case, we’re back to the problem that I discussed in part one of my review (important information smothered by the film’s din). His motives aren’t clear and I don’t like this. Is he in the ‘Tenet’ organisation? I don’t know. Is he a bit of a deus ex machina in the film? I think so.
Just because ‘Tenet’ is an astounding cinematic spectacle, with a crazy plot, doesn’t mean that it’s bereft of comedy. Truly, several funny moments in the movie made me laugh. The scene in which Michael Caine appears is a rich vein of quips, for example. John David Washington is brilliant at delivering jokes - as is Robert Pattinson. The duo have good on-screen chemistry in this regard. This is one of my favourite bits about the film: they are quite a pairing. I like how ‘Tenet’ is not unflinchingly serious. The funny lines may be few and far between in the film, but I thoroughly enjoyed them all the same. In fact, I might say it’s a shame that there weren’t more comedic exchanges in the story.
Alas, this is probably fanciful thinking on my part. The comedy in the film was perfectly proportioned to the action and threat. The seriousness of the plot would be undermined by too much funniness. ‘Tenet’ is a good example to other films in the genre for the way that it handled comedy.I hope that I’ve sold you on ‘Tenet’, and if you’ve already seen it, I hope that you agree with my take on the film. Thanks for giving my writing the time of day, especially if you've read all parts of my review. Please feel free to tweet me your thoughts, @Torpaldo on Twitter!
Here's a podcast I finished the other day with my mates.
Comments
Post a Comment