Time is Weaponized Against Our Senses With ‘Tenet’
No matter the effective escapist effects of Christopher Nolan’s latest, our present moment lurks in the empty seats behind us.
RATING — 5/5*
It’s upon the faux-resurrection of our “protagonist” (John David Washington’s nameless lead role) that Tenet reveals the very thesis at its own heart: “Don’t try to understand it; feel it.” We see an exercise in firing time-inverted bullets, where physics and muscle memory are scrambled up, and instead of “shooting,” you are “catching.” This information (including the above line of dialogue) is delivered by the latest in a line of cinematic cyphers that filmmaker Christopher Nolan has used over the years, but this time there’s an added dimension, unintended for sure, unfortunate definitely.
The film itself is pure escapism, in the tradition of greats like King Kong and Bowfinger (that’s right, a comedy). You could watch Tenet once, and genuinely yearn to watch it again a day later (or earlier even). No matter if you’re with a crowd, day or night, kid or adult; Tenet is indeed why we have movie theaters and why we love movies.
