Tenet review: Christopher Nolan's long-awaited blockbuster is a dream come true for film-goers

Charlotte O'Sullivan26 August 2020

The time is right for Christopher Nolan’s time-centric slice of sci-fi. While Covid-19 delayed most of this year's blockbusters, he wanted Tenet to be released in cinemas this summer and after some twists and turns finally it is now out. His exceptional commitment to the big screen experience has galvanised the industry and his victory (as well as being great news for cinema-owners) is a dream come true for film-goers desperate to discuss something big, shiny and new.

To point out that Tenet has flaws feels ungrateful. It’s like slagging off Santa. But, I confess, some of the yick yacking vis a vis physics, metaphysics and so on made me sleepy. Nor did I find the villain remotely scary. Those quibbles aside, Tenet is an eye-popping, ground-breaking blast.

A CIA spy without a name (played by John David Washington; just as gorgeous and quietly cool as he was in BlacKkKlansman) is sent on a quest which brings him into contact with sardonic English gent, Michael Crosby (Michael Caine). Michael is no relation to Miles, the character Caine played in Inception (in other words, Tenet is NOT a sequel). The men discuss posh suits and prejudice. Washington says the British don’t have a monopoly on snobbery. Caine purrs the excellent line, “No, but we have a controlling interest.”

Our hero is then inducted into the mysteries of “time inversion”, by another Brit, Neil (Robert Pattinson; jauntily effete and utterly delightful).

Tenet (2020) - In pictures

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In order to save mankind, this dynamic duo need to be one step ahead of a Russian arms dealer, Andrei (Kenneth Branagh). The latter, when not communicating with the future, enjoys terrorising his aristocratic wife, Kat (Elizabeth Debicki; devastatingly charismatic), laying psychological traps and trying to alienate her from their young son.

That Washington’s character falls for the troubled Kat is all very noir-ish (as in Inception, a doomed marriage provides the story with its emotional core).

That our hero is a black man in a world dominated by whites creates a fascinating subtext, too. In Disney’s recent Star Wars trilogy, a heroic black man is eclipsed in terms of narrative importance by a heroic white woman. In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a heroic black boy discovers he’s one of many. Nolan flips those plot-lines, languorously. And, by the by, tackles another burning question of the age (does the world need a black James Bond?). Nolan’s not trying to create a new Bond. He’s taking us beyond Bond.

So we get thumping action sequences, liquid-smooth SFX, glamorous globe-trotting and expensive water toys. But cockiness goes out the window and equality is the name of the game.

The result is something Donald Trump will loathe. Kat, especially in the third act, is exactly the kind of woman the current POTUS would deem “nasty”.

Nolan wants to turn the tide of history and might just succeed. What he’s put together may not be the best movie ever made (no film starring Sir Kenneth, doing a funny foreign accent, could be called a masterpiece). But Tenet feels like it was made with tomorrow in mind. We’ve been in a long, dark, tunnel. Here’s a lovely ray of light.

Tenet is in UK cinemas from August 26

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