Tenet (2020)

Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki
Runtime: 150 minutes

Synopsis: Armed with only one word, Tenet, and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.

Verdict: In a year that saw nearly every blockbuster be delayed due to the ongoing pandemic, Christopher Nolan decided not to give up his spot on the release calendar. "Tenet", his latest effort, opened as scheduled in theaters worldwide (or wherever it was allowed to drop) but, unfortunately for Nolan, ended up flopping as people were not too keen to risk their health in order to watch it.

Now when it comes to the British director's work, I'm definitely the type of person who can find enjoyment in them while conceding that they're at times heavily flawed. Despite not loving "The Prestige", "Batman Begins", or "Insomnia", I can at the very least see why a lot of people do and even wouldn't be opposed to giving them a rewatch if I'm in the right mood.

"Tenet", on the other hand, was an entirely different story.

It's probably the first time I genuinely contemplated giving up on one of Nolan's films halfway through. I was utterly disinterested in what was going on, and boredom took the best of me very early into the movie. It's a two and half hour long action film with absolutely no depth, no clear stakes, and no interesting characters that purely relies on a paradoxical gimmick to appear more clever than it actually is. The dialogue was composed of about 50% exposition and 50% cringe-inducing lines, and the only thing that injected some life into the narrative was Ludwig Göransson's score, which still at times felt like a second-hand Hans Zimmer copy.

Aside from a couple of cool visuals, I really didn't get much from "Tenet". It's by far my least favorite Nolan project to date not because it's poorly made, but because it's incredibly boring. Watch it if you're a fan of the director, but I for one know that I won't be revisiting it anytime soon.

FINAL GRADE: 4/10