tenet

ollehello

it is reasonably infrequent that i take the time to watch a film, or motion picture, these days. time has, or was, been against me in respect of being able to do so, look you see. every now and then, though, it is so that a movie strikes me as making the effort to find the time to sit and watch. this is why, or how come, i recent sat and watched tenet, a mere three (3) months after purchasing the blu ray disc of it. 

as ever i am not too certain, or sure, that whatever i would have to say on this (or any) film throws any particular value into the world, but here we are. further, i am careful, cautious and mindful of any of them sort of "spoiler" things. 

let this paragraph be a sort of virtual (or digital) line in the digital (or virtual) sand of the internet, then. for a kind of quick glance of a review, i found tenet to be superb, excellent entertainment, and i would not hesitate in saying "yes, go for it" to anyone what asked me if it was worth seeing. a double whammy, as it were, of excellent and superb, for it is as much of a cerebral experience as it is one of being flat out action thriller stuff. just, well, watch it. 

just so we are all clear, and have an understanding, here you go - a *** SPOILER WARNING *** is now in place for all of the rest of this post. even, or especially, the next picture what will feature here, below, rather than the one above, and oddly enough direction is an important factor. 

plot? difficult to describe, really, as per the sparse wording on the back of the video (or whatever) box. we are introduced to the (ahem) protagonist of the film, played by the i have never seen him before but my what a talent he is John David Washington, via the means of what now must surely be called a classic Christopher Nolan dazzling mindblowing opening action sequence. you know, like the start of, say, The Dark Knight, where you get an incredible bit of film that gets surpassed again and again over the next two (or so hours). it turns out this is just a step, of sorts, towards his actual (or ultimate) mission, or purpose, or maybe destiny. one which he is given one simple word in respect of, tenet. 

rather deliberately, as was the case with inception, i went in to watching this knowing as little as possible of it. once again, i advise on you doing the same. after watching, i of course read up on some comments and reviews. to my surprise a recurring comment was that of "needing" to watch more than once so as to grasp, understand or follow it. some said this was a good thing, where others argued that if you can't watch and enjoy a film just once then it has failed to deliver. well, after a slight moment of wondering what was going on early on, i found it - surprising, considering the ultimate subject matter - all perfectly "linear" and straightforward, if not Police Academy easy, to follow. 

now, you saw all those spoiler warnings, yeah? ultimately, the subject, or main theme here, is what you would broadly label "time travel", but not in the (contextually) way we are used to experiencing it in movies. this is not really Back To The Future 'actual' time travel, but is sort of almost kind of thematically similar to, say, Terminator and indeed Avengers Endgame to a degree, as it revolves more around "something" of the future sent to the past (present) to ensure a future. but, tenet diverts, possibly subverts it. for a potentially better comparison, think the magnificent safety not guaranteed, or perhaps even primer, thrown at a very much (and the director has acknowledged this) James Bond sort of film. 

above is something called the sator square. once you have seen tenet you shall, no doubt, look at this with new eyes, and maybe go "oh". further, yes, indeed, reminding yourself that the (vastly) talented chap who made tenet also made the remarkable memento kind of helps you keep going with it.

what makes tenet such a brilliant, dazzling film experience? on a surface level or even face value, let us not pretend anything beyond the incredible set piece action sequences are key to keeping you watching. once again Christopher Nolan has imagined breathtaking, astonishing sequences and brought together the talent needed to film them "real" rather than by means of using special effects. i very much get why he, the director, was frustrated that the invisible war on the new plague of last year (and this) meant that not nearly as many who would have could have seen this spectacle in a cinema. 

on top of that, though, is a superb cast delivering outstanding performances of well written, developed characters. probably not since the days of James Cameron doing things properly have we been treated to an excellent script backing brilliant action films, before he decided vague one dimensional characters would do just fine for all that avatar rubbish. 

having already sung the praises of John David Washington it is only fair and right to do the same for the remainder of the cast. not one single performance is flawed. a delight to see him out of the glitter vampire films be excellent, and what could i possibly say of a Kenneth Brannagh performance that would not already be known. or is it Branagh, well, whichever. 

does the film have any flaws, on that note, or plot holes or similar? probably. i failed to notice them if so. maybe one or two (possibly just one) moments were convoluted, but nothing felt contrived or out of place, should that make sense. at no point was it that i was not sold, or not bought in to the whole concept of it. blimey, that sounded convoluted and negative. 

perhaps, or maybe, i should have a look and get a copy of that interstellar film. so far as i am aware that is now the only motion picture off of Christopher Nolan what i have not yet seen. in terms of all of his films, well, for me this one, tenet, ranks well with his finest. 

mostly, mind, i just enjoyed switching all distractions off (including putting the phone well away) and just sitting and watching a thoroughly enjoyable movie. let me try and make the effort to do more of the same soon, and i should do well to do so with a film as close as good to this one. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!