Tenet User Reviews/Reactions [Possible SPOILERS]

Christopher Nolan's time inverting spy film that follows a protagonist fighting for the survival of the entire world.
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Nicolaslabra
Posts: 1028
Joined: November 2018
Pr0creation wrote: ↑
September 3rd, 2020, 5:29 pm
Demoph wrote: ↑
September 3rd, 2020, 5:23 pm
Pr0creation wrote: ↑
September 3rd, 2020, 4:20 pm
 After my first viewing i left the feeling confused, underwhelmed but amazed at the same time. When taking the train home i was speaking to my friend and we actually pieced together bits of information that the other didn't know and only then the movie began to make sense lol.

I knew it needed a second watch and wow. The second watch is so much more satisfying having much of the information and context already you get to focus more on the thematic and philosophical parts of the story and i enjoyed it a lot more.

Directing - BOMBASTIC (Nolan's best action by FAR IMO)

Cinematography - Amazing (It's inception but dirty but clean as f***)

Soundtrack - surprisingly Great (i did not have much faith in ludwig but he actually smashed it)
thats one of the reasons i dont like ratings, whats the point of 10s if you cant use them ever.
Writing - Insane (such a surreal concept loved it. Convoluted plot gets in the way of thematic and character exploration could have been 3 hours or less spy exposition)

Editing - Very Good (the feat of editing a concept like this is brave as hell lol)

Sound Mixing terrible (important plot points inaudible. IMAX camera issue?)


My Nolan ranking

The Prestige 8.5
The Dark Knight 8.5
Inception 8.25
Interstellar 8.25
Memento 8
Tenet 8
Dunkirk 8
The Dark Knight Rises 8
Batman Begins 7.5
Insomnia 7
Following 7
You're on a Nolan fans forum, yet you don't rate any of his films higher than 8,5 ?

Yes.

I hate when people rate films 10/10. Like, you're submitting to the fact that no film could ever possibly be made better than that ever?

So that's why my ratings may seem low.

Besides, 8 out of 11 films all 8/10+ is worthy of fandom lol
thats why i dont like ratings, people can interpret things in so many ways that a number feels just wrong.
Last edited by Nicolaslabra on September 3rd, 2020, 7:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ruth
Posts: 8437
Joined: August 2012
It blows my mind how people view the 10/10 or As when scoring films. 10/10 doesn’t mean nothing better or just as good doesn’t exist.

Did you, like, ugh... ever get an A on a test in school? Yeah? So, like, were you a wunderkind named Albert Einstein then?

y’all the pretentiousness in film fandoms is exhausting.
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Pr0creation
Posts: 82
Joined: January 2015
Ruth wrote: ↑
September 3rd, 2020, 6:04 pm
 It blows my mind how people view the 10/10 or As when scoring films. 10/10 doesn’t mean nothing better or just as good doesn’t exist.

Did you, like, ugh... ever get an A on a test in school? Yeah? So, like, were you a wunderkind named Albert Einstein then?

y’all the pretentiousness in film fandoms is exhausting.
Listen, when a film comes out that's better than a film you already rated 10/10 and now you have to re rank every film you are gonna be pissed. :lol:

Unless you're a crazy person and just accept varying ranks within the 10/10's. :shock:
Ruth
Posts: 8437
Joined: August 2012
Pr0creation wrote: ↑
September 3rd, 2020, 6:11 pm
Ruth wrote: ↑
September 3rd, 2020, 6:04 pm
 It blows my mind how people view the 10/10 or As when scoring films. 10/10 doesn’t mean nothing better or just as good doesn’t exist.

Did you, like, ugh... ever get an A on a test in school? Yeah? So, like, were you a wunderkind named Albert Einstein then?

y’all the pretentiousness in film fandoms is exhausting.
Listen, when a film comes out that's better than a film you already rated 10/10 and now you have to re rank every film you are gonna be pissed. :lol:

Unless you're a crazy person and just accept varying ranks within the 10/10's. :shock:
listen i am generally not the judgemental type but I normally don’t spend my days thinking of reranking every single film I’ve seen in my life when I think something’s worth a 10/10

i would honestly be worried for anyone who does
Demoph
Posts: 1230
Joined: January 2019
Pr0creation wrote: ↑
September 3rd, 2020, 6:11 pm
Ruth wrote: ↑
September 3rd, 2020, 6:04 pm
 It blows my mind how people view the 10/10 or As when scoring films. 10/10 doesn’t mean nothing better or just as good doesn’t exist.

Did you, like, ugh... ever get an A on a test in school? Yeah? So, like, were you a wunderkind named Albert Einstein then?

y’all the pretentiousness in film fandoms is exhausting.
Listen, when a film comes out that's better than a film you already rated 10/10 and now you have to re rank every film you are gonna be pissed. :lol:

Unless you're a crazy person and just accept varying ranks within the 10/10's. :shock:
Not so crazy:
Vertigo 10/10 > The trouble with Harry 10/10
Rocco and his brothers 10/10 > The leopard 10/10
If I take 2019:
The Irishman>Parasite>Ad Astra=Little Women (my four 10/10 of the year, although it is very rare I have 4 10/10 in a year. 2018, there were just Roma and First Man.)
And sometimes, I have two 10/10 that I just can't compare. Like It's a wonderful life and Amadeus. But they're still 10/10 in my book.
raimibonn
Posts: 97
Joined: December 2019
This is why I'm binary. To me, it's either thumbs up or thumbs down; rewatchable or not.
ras_al_deacon
Posts: 127
Joined: May 2014
Below is my review and impressions! I've seen it twice. Quite the story -- drove to Vegas from Los Angeles to see it opening day. FIFTEEN MINUTES INTO THE FILM THE IMAX PROJECTOR BROKE.

Absolutely unacceptable. AMC literally had one job, and failed. My best friend, who is a director (the only other person who would go on this crazy ride with me) was only able to see it because he had assured his wife he'd take a flight back that night. Time (pun intended) was running out.

We switched his flights to a later one, found a Dolby Atmos screening (better than nothing), and away we went...

The film throws a lot at you and expects you to keep up. It is dealing with a very peculiar concept -- the very nature and perception of time -- and it is very hard to understand it on your first way through. The sound mixing is an issue with dialog, however on the second viewing in IMAX it felt crystal clear in comparison. There really is no substitute.

It was a bonkers action film on the first viewing. Thoroughly enjoyed all of it. It's basically the spy thriller on steroids. I think that the opening is one of the most effective that Nolan has ever directed. The way the titles come in... that's chef's kiss stuff. But on your first viewing there’s a sense that you’re missing something (at least for me)

I staggered out of the theater, unsure what I’d just watched. I very much enjoyed it, but it was unlike anything I’d ever seen, for good and for ill. I knew there was more to it.

Second showing: IMAX. Picture quality was perfect as was sound.
On the second viewing, all of the time stuff works.

There’s a key expository scene, and when you see the demonstrations of the rules / mechanics on the second time through at least for me there was this AHA moment... where I said to myself "oh, this is what's happening!" That scene with Clemence Poesy is so key, if you keep it in your head while you watch the film you can feel your brain literally starting to track it and figure things out.

And I began to understand HOW to look at the backwards / forwards stuff and what was really happening. That created a really strong sense of pleasure that *I* had figured it out, and I was watching the film through a new lens. A new perception of cause and effect, of how events happen in physical space.

What Priya says is true. You have to look at things in a new way. And the fact that we are figuring this out, on viewing #2, in concert with the Protagonist, is next level brilliant.

And this is the single thing that has stuck with me. It’s much more subtle than some of the other tricks Nolan has pulled off, but I think it’s the most ambitious and therefore impressive. I kept thinking, during the second viewing, OH MY GOD, THIS WORKS!

One thing I doin't think people appreciate enough is the magnitude of the directing feat here. We only experience time going forwards. And yet Nolan has used the language of film to show us a new way of perceiving events.

The major beats fo the film landed much harder on the second viewing. The confrontations between husband and wife, the goodbye between Neil and the Protagonist. Ives was much more lovable as well.

The film starts as a straightforward enough spy thriller and then ratchets it up into Primer on steroids. It's art-house masquerading as a blockbuster, hidden inside of something entirely different. When you watch Memento, it's curious and engaging... but your literal perception of the reality you are in (and you are very much in a reality when you're sitting in a cinema) is shifted through the viewings of Tenet.

Can’t stop thinking about it.

Wish I was seeing it a third time.
Overall, the film keeps growing on me with each passing second. I think this film will prove timeless. Perhaps there will be a critical reevaluation, much as there has been with other classics created by great directors.

Nolan is much more than a director to me. As a professional writer, I take special inspiration from his works and how they've shaped my approach to writing and storytelling. This film perhaps more than anything shows the power of storytelling -- with proper ambition and skill it is possible to shape perception of the reader / audience in new ways.

For that, I have to place this film exceedingly high in the Nolan canon. I need to see it a few more times before I have an exact ranking.
Lincoln
Posts: 235
Joined: August 2019
DarkChocolateOreo wrote: ↑
September 3rd, 2020, 9:00 am
 Great review Dobson. Agree with all your points. Really like your point about the Cg, only one or places (like the side mirror in the chase) can you tell Cg is used.
Dobson wrote: ↑
September 3rd, 2020, 8:38 am
The only thing I'm not perfectly happy with is the editing, the movie rushes by way too fast, with little time to build atmosphere or to absorb the setting. It feels like a lot has been cut. As a consequence the film struggles to build this globe throtting adventure feeling that it tries to achieve.
You can tell there was some mandate to get the film to exactly under 2:30:00, probably by the studio. Its a 180 pg script, his longest ever. I think it was too much to edit down and I also think that Jen Lame (while great at editing smaller films) just didnt have the exp necessary for a film of this scale...maybe covid made a bad situation worse

It will never happen but I hope to god that Nolan does a directors cut on the blu-ray. This is the first time Ive really felt like so much was cut.
How much was cut?
I read that RP have little screentime, but I remember people saying here that he was filming in all those countries.

And I agree with Lame being a risky choice for this film.
Last edited by Lincoln on September 3rd, 2020, 9:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
KEM
Posts: 1010
Joined: December 2019
The editing is also my only real gripe with the film, there are some very strange cuts and I agree that it seems like the studio pushed for the film to be a certain length so they had to cut corners, and the film suffers a bit as a result, a directors cut with less crazy edits would be awesome!!
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Vader182
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okay so,

what a weird movie


-Vader
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