'Tenet' Review: Second Viewing Because It's Necessary

A few weeks ago I returned to the cinema and watched 'Tenet'. My first impressions were lukewarm giving love to the performances and set pieces, but fairly critical of the lack of story and sound mixing. After seeing it again, I'm now officially in the warm zone.

Prior to my rewatch I read explanations and watched video breakdowns. I felt good going into the second viewing. I had done my homework. I knew what the internet thought was happening.

I'm not going to even flirt with spoiler territory here, all I will say is, I had a better understanding of the film's concept on second watch. But - and I cannot stress this enough - I do not completely understand it and I'm okay with that.

At the end of my first review, I posed the question: "should a movie require this much work?". I will put my hands up and admit that in hindsight, my frustration with 'Tenet' was my inability to understand it at first brush. It was clear on first viewing that this is a film that requires multiple rewatches. And to be clear, I don't mind having to work for a movie, but I can completely understand some of the criticism towards this movie that it's just too much. I think 'Inception' (2010) is a great example of a film that expects an audience to pay attention and use their brain, but is still a movie you can walk away from confident that you followed along and had a basic understanding. 'Inception' you re-watch because you're excited to see the things that you missed and to just enjoy the ride again. 'Tenet' you re-watch because if you want to understand it, you have to. And I'm not going to fault the movie for its lack of comprehension this time.

What changed my tune in this regard is a line said fairly early in the movie by Clémence Poésy: Don't try to understand it. Feel it.

Up until that line is said, I was sitting in the theatre with a focus and determination I wish I had in other aspects of my life. But once I heard Poésy utter those words, I could feel my shoulders drop away the tension. This time I could hear the line for what it was: not just an instruction to John David Washington's character, but an instruction from Chris Nolan to his audience.

So that's what I tried to do. I tried to just watch the movie and feel it. And wow, this is a great way to watch any movie. Just let it come to you and see how it feels. And I tell you, 'Tenet' is a great feeling movie. The spectacle and concept's complexity are truly something to marvel. (As an aside, a movie I'd like to "just feel" is 'Ad Astra' (2019) - I really wanted to love it but in the end it came up a bit flat for me, but that's for another day).

All of my other thoughts on this film have been reinforced. The casting and performances are really perfect, except for Kenneth Branagh. Forgive me because I can't remember where I read/saw this remark, but Branagh really did come across as a bad Bond villain. John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, and Elizabeth Debicki are phenomenal in their roles, though, and their chemistry is wonderful. The set pieces are out of this world and it's immensely impressive what Nolan and his crew were able to achieve. The sound mixing is a problem, but I will also give some leniency that some of the dialogue I thought I couldn't understand because of the sound was actually because it was dialogue spoken backwards. And lastly, I still do think the story is disappointingly weak. The heart that 'Inception', 'The Prestige' (2006), and 'Interstellar' (2014) have is nonexistent here. Any other filmmaker I don't think I would be as critical of with this script, but I do expect more from Nolan than a run of the mill 'save the world' story line.

This movie is going to divide people. If you're looking to watch a movie with so much ambiguity and complexity that you have to be okay not understanding it, you will fall in love with 'Tenet' because on each viewing, you'll gain something new. But if you're looking to watch a movie as escapism and pure entertainment, 'The Prestige', 'Inception' and Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy will be a better use of your time.

'Tenet' is available in theatres now. As before, please be safe and take all necessary precautions when watching a film in cinema.