★★★★★
“Does your head hurt yet?” That line is delivered by suave British agent Neil (a scene-stealing Robert Pattinson) late into the twisty-turny proceedings of this globetrotting, jaw-dropping and delightfully convoluted big-screen blockbuster. Sorry, TV, your brief moment in the lockdown limelight is over — cinema, finally, has returned.
The much-discussed Oslo airport sequence – for which Nolan crashed a real 747 – may be dazzling, but it’s an amuse-bouche compared to what comes afterwards. When Nolan finally plays the ace up his sleeve and fully unleashes ‘inversion’, it’s pure magic. At a time when the work of VFX wizards can make (almost) anything possible on screen, Nolan’s commitment to shooting practically achieves an effect akin to first seeing the T-Rex stomp onscreen in Jurassic Park – it’s a film that shows you the impossible in a way that’s indistinguishable from reality.
The fan in me definitely hoped for much more positive reactions across the board but I’m not bothered. I’d rather see him taking chances, giving us something bold that could be polarizing.
I think, from what I see, is that that kind of polarizing film is not the film that should be welcoming back audiences after a months-long shutdown.
You don't start a meal with a thick juicy steak that requires thorough chewing and digestion, you start a meal with a light, easily-digestible...you get the analogy.
It sounds like TENET would have been the perfect final-course to cap off a fun summer season, but now it unfortunately has become the steak jammed down your throat before you've even had a sip of the wine.
Now at 87%, its average rating has jumped up from 7/10 to 7.3. I can see the avg score settling at 7.5 to 7.6, not that far behind Inception and above interstellar and The Prestige scores
Yeah the stark difference with this and Interstellar is that even the positive reviews from big reviewers like LAT or NYT have some reservations in their praise. It was a lot easier to find Interstellar raves than for this one. However, maybe this will be one of those films that resonates more on multiple viewings.
