A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1921), directed by Emmett J. Flynn, stands as one of the earliest explorations of time travel in cinema. Adapted from Mark Twain’s classic novel, the film follows a modern-day mechanic who inexplicably finds himself thrust back into the medieval realm of King Arthur. This pioneering portrayal of temporal displacement laid the groundwork for the genre’s evolution on the silver screen. Nearly a century later, Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending “Tenet” (2020) would further redefine the complexities and intricacies of time manipulation in film, showcasing humanity’s enduring fascination with altering the course of history.

Tenet

A super spy, played by John David Washington, is recruited into a world of danger and intrigue on a temporal scale. Working almost entirely in the dark, he will have to fight his way to the top of a criminal organization wrapped in mystery. The price of his failure? All of existence.

Originally released 6 months into the COVID scare in the hopes of bringing people back to the cinema, many criticisms have been laid at the feet of Tenet. Chief among them is that it doesn’t make any sense, which isn’t helped by director Christopher Nolan’s recent admission that Tenet isn’t supposed to make sense. In the interview, Nolan says that he wants viewers to “experience” his films and that they aren’t puzzles to be solved.

This is all well and good. Ambiguity can be an effective narrative tool. Just look at another of Nolan’s films, Inception. More than 13 years after its release, people are still arguing over its ending. However, for all that Tenet gets right, which is gone into some detail below, it misses a key ingredient that helped to make Inception’s spinning top thought-provoking instead of frustrating. That is a visceral connection to the characters and action. In Tenet, you root for the protagonist because you’re supposed to. In Inception, the audience roots for DiCapprio’s Cobb because they want to.

So, what does Tenet get right? As per the norm, Christopher Nolan surrounds himself with the best people. His visual crew, including the cinematographer and production designer, consists of familiar names from his past films, and the actors whom he cast are always perfect for their roles.

John David Washington exudes an immediate presence and swagger as well as a sincerity as The Protagonist that helps to carry his character through some of the film’s more unfortunate and repetitive exposition dumps. One day, he will find the right role for him that will be a worthy showcase of his talent (on a side note, I’d love to see a buddy action film starring him and Henry Cavill. Both are charming and charismatic actors who do action right but have never really found their place in Hollywood – The Witcher mess not withstanding.).

The supporting cast is also strong, with Robert Pattinson showing once again that he’s more than just a sparkling vampire for whom tween girls salivate. Unfortunately, the audience is never given much of a reason to care about his character. Oh, sure, at the film’s conclusion, there’s a bit of a twist revealed that, if explored earlier, had the potential to engender empathy for the two men. However, it’s far too little, far too late.

After the debacle that was the Star Wars prequels, it was revealed that George Lucas believed that audiences “didn’t care” about the story; they only wanted mind-blowing visuals. While Nolan certainly doesn’t seem to ascribe to the same filmmaking philosophy, Tenet suffers from exactly this, nonetheless. The interpersonal relationships are sacrificed on the altar of thoughtfully intricate and thought-provoking story mechanics.

In the second act, a character is introduced whose primary purpose is to provide the audience with some human connection and a reason to care about the impending apocalypse. Regrettably, both her character and the B-plot surrounding her feel tacked on and artificial. Were the main protagonists compelling enough to cultivate that needed connection on their own, the stakes would have been sufficient to engage the audience on a deeper level, and the film would have provided a much richer experience.

Sadly, while character development might be Tenet’s greatest weakness, it’s not its only weakness. Even though Nolan claims that audiences aren’t supposed to understand the film completely, Tenet is no stranger to dialogue-heavy scenes that spend 70% of the film trying to (sometimes clunkily) explain what’s going on. Nolan is usually a master at pacing; however, Tenet is plagued by an abundance of these heavy exposition dumps that completely arrest the film’s momentum.

Tenet’s Visuals

Tenet is a quintessential Nolan visual experience that, despite its deceptively mundane plot and significant narrative deficiencies, is an underrated technical achievement. The thought and care that must have gone into coordinating the film’s effects while maintaining continuity can’t be overemphasized. The storyboarding likely sent at least one artist to the insane asylum.

For this reason, and the fact that your only other choices are the indecipherable Bob Marley: One Love and the cinematic roadkill that is Drive-Away Dolls, we’re unofficially recommending Tenet as Worth it for this weekend’s limited re-release, but only under the condition that you see it in IMAX.

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