TENET Spoiler Free Review – Time travel on steroids
TENET is Christopher Nolan’s newest foray into the “I’m gonna confuse the hell out of you” directorial seat. And oh boy does it deliver! This has been said before but it really is, James Bond with time travel. Except, I personally, wouldn’t call TENET an action movie. I think, a drama with action elements would be a more precise description. However people choose to interpret it isn’t really the key here though. The really amazing thing is how Nolan can make a movie that ends with all the questions seemingly answered only for the audience to realise you have more questions lined up.
Plot
Honestly, there really isn’t much I can say about the plot without it being super spoiler-y so I’ll have to take liberties here. “The Protagonist” becomes a secret agent and uses time manipulation to save the world. Helped along the way with his friends, he makes discoveries about the world. And himself that he never thought possible.
General Thoughts
I went into this movie totally blind. I’d not watched any interviews, read any reviews. I’d only watched the trailer, lemme tell ya. That trailer gives away nothing. There is so much to unpack in this movie that it does feel overwhelming at times, then the movie shows an explanation and suddenly you understand. But then you’re left with more questions.
The actual movie isn’t as action based as people may assume. There’s alot of drama and sneaking around. Couple of fight scenes but nothing that, for me at least, would cement it as an action movie.
I have to give a shout out to John David Washington and Robert Pattinson. Both their characters were well acted and had a chemistry from the very start. They’re more like brothers the way they interact and it’s honestly amazing to see. Kenneth Branagh, who plays the main villain Andrei Sator, is also exceptional. He’s smart cold as ice and you always have that feeling that he’s one step ahead of The Protagonist just watching and waiting for him to mess up. Like a cat playing with a mouse before he decides to eat it. His entire character made me nervous throughout the movie, an expert performance.
“The big reveal” at the end, wasn’t much of a big reveal. If you pay enough attention, especially to colours. Then you’ll be able to guess it before it even happens. I did, it was still a beautiful moment though and it had me wanting more. Like a sequel or a side story.
I did write a spoiler review that goes a bit more into the story. It can be read here.
