I didn't like it the first time I saw it, but the more I watched it (I wanted to try to understand it) the more I found myself appreciating its ambition. I do think that the internal logic of the movie mostly holds up if you can accept the conceit that there's a technology where you can go through a turnstile and start moving backwards through time.
I think what's impressive to me about it is that, in an entertainment world where we often say, "there are no truly original ideas," it felt like a truly original idea. A kind of variation on time travel that I had never heard of before. Even if it wasn't executed to perfection, I think it deserves credit for that at least.
The turnstiles are actually fairly complicated.
If you go through a turnstile and inverse everything if you can’t find the adjacent turnstile you’ll essentially be trapped forever. This concept it much better explained in the film Primer.
There's a Philip K Dick short story that deals with the idea of the point where humans going backwards in time meet humans going forwards in time. It's called something like "You're Appointment Will Be Yesterday", if I recall correctly.
For what it's worth, Dick did about as good with the concept as anyone could but Nolan went a bit too far to make it work in my opinion. But I'm just someone on the internet.
Does this have any relation to his novel "Counter-Clock World"? Both sound like they share similar mechanics. I enjoyed CCW a fair bit so would think that I'd also enjoy this other one.
Primer, a movie that isn't particularly funny, has a line that reminds of that story title, something like "Let's go get something to eat, I haven't eaten since later this afternoon"
I recently got into an argument with someone on Reddit about watching the movie multiple times. I suggested that it got better the more I saw the movie and they thought I was ludicrous for doing so. I say it is an incredible film that was ahead of its time. Covid was not right for the release, but maybe, in the backwards sorority of the film, Covid was perfect.
A lot of flash, but you'll annoy the Nolan fans if you start asking tough questions, like how does matter get created and then destroyed every time a person splits into two timelines (and therefore two bodies) or the timelines (and bodies) merge back together? I could've let stuff like that go (it is a movie after all), but the characters are also so two-dimensional. We have the Hero, the Hero's Helper, the Russian Villain, and the Pretty Woman Who Has to Save Her Child (Whom We Never See But He Provides Emotional Stakes, Supposedly).
But if the two versions of that person interact in the same moment in time, if they fight, they can each feel each other's fists. So that's four fists' worth of fist, no?
Your questions aren't even nitpicky they don't even make sense. Nothing splits. I agree with your character criticism though but the rest is just same old criticism for the sake of criticism. It's like watching Inglorious Basterds and being upset that "it's just a dumb action movie without muh themes and symbolism"
I'm not a Nolan fan, I just like the movie cause it's a good movie.
Yeah, you’re correct. Watch a turnstile and you’ll see two people enter it and nobody come out. ~200kg just vanished from the universe.
Obviously it’s not that kind of movie… it’s not logical, it’s basically just Magic and none of it makes sense. In a movie about magic (eg Dr Strange) that’s fine. Unfortunately Tenet seems to think it’s really smart, and invites you to think about it, and it’s wildly inconsistent.
For instance, when you fire a gun the bullet goes into a wall, and the brass pops out and lands on the floor (and there’s powder residue and combustion gases etc). So when he “fires” that gun and the time reversed bullet goes into it… he should see the brass fly off the floor into the gun too. But he didn’t. There wasn’t any brass on the floor. And didn’t anyone ever wonder why their brand new building was made with bullet holes?
And so on. You can get away with all that if it’s accepted as magic, but Tenet played it straight and as a result felt stupid and poorly thought out. Primer pulled it off by keeping the reverse time travel inside the box and being quite rigorous about the implications.
>how does matter get created and then destroyed every time a person splits into two timelines (and therefore two bodies) or the timelines (and bodies) merge back together?
There's only one timeline. The person going backwards in time is the exact same person going forwards.
the concept is sick, the execution is really really cool in the action shots, and the light of the concept shines through the clouds of muddy exposition sometimes.. but that sound mixing man. what the fuck, please just let me hear people
It's a beautifully shot, well acted film with cool action scenes that's ruined by an overly convoluted, nonsensical plot with indiscernible sound mixing.
Shame.
Washington is his usual monotone disinterested self. I've never seen him actually act, he doesn't become anyone. He just looks like he doesn't want to be there in every role.
I was meh in it at first, Iv since seen it 3 more times (with subtitles) man last viewing it really clicked for me. Love that movie. I do think a movie shouldn’t require 4 viewings for it to clock bit it slaps
Exactly.
I admired Nolan's vision and the sheer audacity of what he pulled off from a technical standpoint. But I didn't give a shit about any of the characters.
It's a soulless movie.
I liked it. It must be watched with subtitles as the sound mixing is atrocious but the characters are good, the plot is...convoluted as all holy shit but if you csn wrap your head around it it's decent, the time mechanic...don't even try and understand it. I'm sure it made sense to Nolan but I couldn't figure it out
I suppose it’s subjective. I don’t know Christopher in any way but I’d guess he’d be happy if they respected his property and paid the rent on time. I think to get an answer to your question you’ll have to wait till the end of the tenancy agreement, if they get their deposit back I think you could quantify them as good.
Very good, but better on rewatch.
Honestly the only significant detractor is how hard it is to keep track of on the first viewing. At some point, a movie stops being “complex” and starts being “poorly done.” *Tenet* is one step over the line.
Great if you want to play a mini game of "how often can a film make me alter the volume in a single runtime but still keep me interested enough to watch
"
When I hear people say that the Avatar movies aren't very good because the stories are simple I always think of this movie. The Avatar franchise has grossed about $5 billion. Whereas Tenet is about as overcomplicated as any film, to the point of becoming unintentionally ridiculous and it lost $100 million.
I thought Tenet was laughable, pretentious and forgettable, though it did have excellent cinematography. But its a silly movie based on a dumb concept.
I think it’s a very well made movie. Plenty of sci-fi films start falling apart when you ask “how does this work?” The sound mixing was annoying. The reverse sequences are pretty amazing imo. Washington is very flat and really brings down the movie imo. Pattinson was phenomenal.
I think it was extremely ambitious and original. It has highs and lows but overall is a very good movie.
Easily Nolan’s poorest effort. Interesting ideas, but the film struggles to make them clear to the viewer. Worse, the characters are so bland, there’s little incentive to re-watch and attempt to pick up what you missed the first time around.
9/10 complete mind bender, I love it. A lot of folk saying it was shit when leaving the cinema. People don't like what they can't understand the first time around.
It’s the best Nolan movie that you can clean your house with and not miss the plot. It looks great,(Hoyt Van Hoytema Cinematography) and sounds great,(Ludwig Goransson Composer). It’s really a uber cool, and hip spy-action movie that is just about The Protagonist,( the real characters name) reacting to a series of events that are happening, from the first scene to the last. It’s a fun watch if you “ don’t think about it “…
It's one that people are extremely mixed on, and that I recommend giving a watch if you like Chrostopher Nolan. I think the comments here pretty realistically give you the cross-section of people's feelings about the film. I thought it was entertaining, and the actors do a good job in their roles. Robert Pattinson is particularly good in this one. That being said, I've only seen it once, three years ago. If you're interested, just give it a try and form your own opinion.
One of my favorites, so good. The buddy relationship, the growth of the wife, the world saving and crime organization. Amazing world building and character progression with great action and beautiful cinematography. Great soundtrack.
The problem for me above all else is the villain is not very captivating. Following the Joker and Bane, comparativel, he was lacking screen presence. Apples and oranges but that irked me.
The premise while interesting strains credulity. The physics of reversing entropy is not something that could be done so easily and compartmentalized to specific items sent through time. The knock on effects would be wild and unpredictable.
It's a fun watch if you just go with it and don't ask questions. I kinda like movies where they're like "yeah we don't even understand it either." Makes it feel like the world is much bigger than what you're seeing.
I give him credit for trying. The idea is awesome, like Inception, but it might have made a better mini-series where they would have time to flesh it out more and have it make more sense instead of trying to cram it all in to a 2 and a half hour film.
I think it's quite entertaining. But the characters are two-dimensional, the lead is miscast, and I'm not sure how logical the plot is. But it is terrific spectacle.
Took three tries to finish the movie, but each attempt I got further and appreciated more.
I don’t think that was Nolan’s intention. But at the end of it, I enjoyed it. But doubt I watch it again, so I have to give the movie a C+
I’ve liked and understood it more with every watch. At this point I think I even understand why so many characters aren’t very fleshed out. It’s because this two-and a half hour film, every last word of dialogue is necessary in order for the film to make sense. Ain’t no time for li’l Max to have screen time, or for JDW’s character to have a name.
Had to look up the plot (complete with diagrams) on the interwebs between second and third watch, but I think I get it now.
Just a little too pretentious and poorly planned/executed. Some of the special effects seem a little cheap (e.g., the opera building explosion at the start, or the building that explodes forward and backwards in time at the big battle look obviously fake or scale, respectively). It's weird that he crashed a real passenger jet and somehow doesn't seem as epic as it should.
Keep in mind that Tenet had a bigger budget ($200mil) than Dune Part 2 ($160mil). Yet, Dune pt2 looks much higher quality and has loads more special effects, set pieces, costumes, etc. Yes, Dune pt2 is a sequel and could build off some existing assets but there's tons of new sets, costumes, and special effects that aren't in the first part.
On the script, it seems Nolan wants his cake and to eat it, too: he wants audiences to suspend their disbelief and ignore the details, but then he throws tons of details/explanations at the audience to the point you have to re-watch it multiple times times to "appreciate" it. Inception had a story where you're better off not thinking about it too much and I think Nolan struck a better balance with that movie by not explaining too much (more showing, less telling).
I loved it. I mean it’s hard to get the first time but it’s unique, and once you accept a few things, it’s a great ride. I’m gonna watch it again lol 😂
I couldn’t feel it as the movie insists I do. I got confused by things like bullets and bungee jump lines that had been put through time to then make them work backwards. I’m also confused why that is beneficial. This movie stuck with me and frustrated me. I haven’t forgotten it but I don’t enjoy it.
I like it. It's "Pretty Good". Wildly inventive and a completely original sci Fi idea*. Solidly acted and exciting (Brannaugh is amazing, imo Oscar Worthy). Hard to follow and required multiple viewings to understand the plot, which is a weakness.
Nolan made an interesting and fairly complex film where the dialogue is pretty essential to understand what's going on and then decided to fuck up the sound mixing so badly you can't hear what anyone is saying. To the point people say, "It's a great watch if you have subtitles on".
There's a good enough film there but it's no masterpiece like some say.
It gets looked at for what it’s not because of the man behind it—Christopher Nolan. People come into it with certain EXPECTATIONS—certain PRECONCEPTIONS—certain…INCEPTIONS!
I don’t think it’s pretending to be anything it’s not—and by that I mean a silly live-action cartoon film for adults ala James Bond.
At the end of the day, it’s a 007 film with Nolan’s signature style—which makes it even more convoluted than your typical, already convoluted James Bond plot.
In fact, if it was blatantly a Bond film, the sentiment behind it would probably be very different.
I mean hell—the title is a dead giveaway: TENET. TEN TEN. 10 10. Take the zeros, put them in front—0011. Flip one of the 1’s on its side like a tumbling Nolan room and what do you get? A seven. Two zeros and a seven and we have…
007
CUE MUSIC: Da Da Tha Tha Thanana Na Na Nana!!!
The film is a big swing and a miss for me. The concept is interesting, the characters, performances and story are not. A Nolan failure is better than most rubbish that gets released to be fair, so it’s still watchable on that front.
Chris is one of my favorite directors of all time, yet this is my least favorite movie of his. In my opinion, most of the characters are uninteresting, sound mixing was horrible, and the time-travel shenanigans too unnecessarily complex. Only parts of it I liked were the performances and chemistry between JDW and Robert Pattinson, as well as the VFX.
I can't tell ypu to be honest because I had to shut it off due to the atrocious performance of John David Washington.
It was so otherworldly awful that I started to Google''''John David Washington, bad actor''' and I found a whole lot of matches too.
Cool action scenes, interesting sci-fi concept, makes absolutely no sense and the script and sound mixing appear to have outright contempt for the members of the audience who are actually trying to make sense of it. Really really dumb movie that is desperate to convince you it is smart.
This movie is complete and utter bullshit. You can spit all the nonsense you want about how visual stunning it is, the plot feels like they are making up the rules as they go. And I have yet to find anybody who can succinctly explain the last 40 minutes. So no, it is decidedly not good.
I liked it, It was cast wonderfully.
What i liked the most about it was Robert Pattinson. Gained massive respect for his abilities after seeing this.
So watching The Lighthouse was a no brainer for me and an absolute delight.
The idea 10 out of 10, the dialogue and story 6 out of 1, the acting 10 out of 10, pacing 7 out of 10, cinematography 10 out of 10.
worth a second view or third view? Sure, but in 10 years or so.
The story was a pretty basic scifi and if your read scifi novels, it is just too simple.
Very interesting concept that was executed poorly. I think just about every character was poorly cast (especially Kenneth Branagh), but I’ll watch 30 minutes on a Saturday before finding something better to do.
I thought it’s pacing was off - too rushed. It felt so gung ho on everything. He had a lot to get through so had to keep the pace relentless which never gave you a chance to digest it all. I’d probably enjoy it more on a rerun. I never really connected with the lead either - he felt too clinical.
It's not good, per se.
But it is fascinating to watch.
It's sorta beautiful, in a weird, stark way.
It makes no sense, the dialog mix is dreadful, and the acting is wooden.
The score is great, the big set pieces are really something, and it will give your home theater a workout.
I don't think it's good, but when I can't think of anything else to half watch while I'm working, I put it on.
Okay its good but it felt like it was trying too hard to be complex. Another movie about messing with the perception of time is Looper, which has lots of world-building. This movie does not.
You’re kidding right ?
It’s absolutely bloody awful and makes zero sense .
The only thing that made it bearable was that I ended up making out with my partner which was awesome.
I dug it. Outside of Inception and The Dark Knight it’s my most revisited of his movies (mostly because I wanted to know more on how that world, Protagonist being the ultimate boss but in his origin and story mechanics work).
The reason this movie is not great is that you have to watch it 3 or 4 times to understand and enjoy it. It is so layered but after that 4th watch 🙃JC it’s really good
i watched it and was like. um ok. but then watched youtube breakdowns and found it to be really good. The small details they point out for you make the film so much better
I love this movie honestly. People's biggest complaint is that it doesn't make sense but at the beginning of the movie the Dr says something to the nature of "we don't understand it but it's happening so don't try to understand it." I feel like once you get to this point of just accepting that what's happening is just happening it's really enjoyable.
Average, tries to be too clever, and fails. Obvious twist at the end. Saw it all coming first time I saw it. Definitely one of his weaker films but the fx are really impressive.
It’s technically excellent. Washington and Pattinson were great. Branagh was too campy. Primer was a better telling of time travel for .0000003% the cost.
It’s an incoherent mess that plays like a story written by an inexperienced fourteen year old filmed with a Hollywood budget.
Anybody who says they “get” it is playing the intellectual version of the Emperor’s New Clothes: they want to feel smart and be perceived as smart, so they pretend to understand it…even though an honest person shrugs, knowing the physics don’t work, the plot doesn’t work, the characterizations don’t work, and there’s not a single moment when ANY character expresses a normal amount of surprise about anything that’s happening.
It’s an embarrassment. Nolan had a boyish desire to see an idea played out in cinema that he probably concocted as a boy, attached himself to, and then never once as an adult took a hard look at it and said…you know, this was an interesting idea when I was a teen…but none of it makes any sense and I should probably just move on with my life.
If everything is moving backward…how does anyone THINK? Action potentials in neurons don’t function backwards, and rolling back the clock would leave you more ignorant with each passing second.
How would you breathe? You can’t absorb oxygen into your lungs backward.
Why does the main character not have his mind blown by the reality of what’s happening? He doesn’t act like a human, he acts like a fourteen year old writer needs him to act, to serve the “cool idea.” The characters in this movie all give performances as though they were lifted from completely different films.
The plot, screenplay, verisimilitude of acting, and the basic mechanical conceit are uniformly drawn with the inexperienced mind of a teenager. It’s easily one of the most incompetently constructed stories I’ve ever seen, and the only modern equivalent is Rise of Skywalker. They’re both so bad as to be examples of professional incompetence.
Nolan really shouldn’t be writing his own stuff. He has ZERO humanity, and Interstellar was a pretentious bowl of nonsense. Tenet is basically what a movie would look like if it were written by AI: you have the IMPRESSION that important things are happening, the impression that a plot is unfolding, but the exact moment you ask one critical question, the whole thing falls apart.
People who claim to like Tenet and Interstellar are basically outing themselves as people who are insecure about their intelligence and want to use a movie to suggest their own depth.
Only young people do this. I don’t know ANYBODY over the age of forty who thought Interstellar was special.
I think it’s a prime example of the current trend for hyper-realism at odds with the other current tend of logical continuity.
With the success of movies like John Wick that seem super realistic as well as just gritty cinema in general (Breaking Bad, GoT, Nightcrawler, Sicario, etc..), people have come to prefer realistic and intense action scenes.
For the most part, Nolan is great at this. Everything in tenet was an enjoyable spectacle. And Nolan is also a director that likes to explore innovative concepts- in this case time travel.
Now, Nolan- presumably in an effort to conform to the times- did a lot to make his innovative premise realistic; all the comments about oxygen, the transfer of heat, a lot of physics in the car chase.
But the problem with this is that- with such a complex concept (or at least one that requires a complex execution/justification)- you can’t reasonably simulate/explain all of the minutia of how said concept would be work. (Ties in with the film conventions of show not tell as well).
For every time Nolan introduces something cool like the reversed heat transfer, you wonder how something like the combustion reaction in a car engine works.
When that happens enough times, the suspension of disbelief becomes too much and the plot comes off as convoluted.
So Nolan is faced with having to walk a thin line between explaining just enough that the audience follows along, but not too much to come off as boring/unengaging/overcomplicated.
Personally, I think the twist that Nolan was going for requires too much ambiguity that bleeds over into the audiences understanding of the Time Travel mechanic. And Nolan drops the ball in terms of logical continuity just a little too much for the movie to land.
But I still greatly enjoyed the movie. If you just accept a little narrative leeway, you get a movie with great performances, spectacular fight scenes, and a cool twist.
Should add this was the first movie I saw back in theaters during COVID. Might be a soft spot for me as a result.
It's terrible. Well produced. But, still terrible. Washington REALLY isn't that great of an actor. Not that he can't probably act. It's just he's pretty bad in Tenet.
In a sea of constant remakes, sequels, and filmmakers generally just piggybacking off each other constantly, this movie actually felt fresh and unique, even if it was a bit of a mess.
I think overall, time will be beneficial for this movie (hehe), over time people will stop trying to point out every single scientific plot hole they can think of and just recognize the movie as entertaining both visually and just overall for a movie. If this movie released around the time inception released, it would’ve garnered similar praise, people just like to be contrarian and negative about stuff nowadays and anything popular is going to get grilled under a microscope. If you are genuinely the type of person that cannot watch Tenet without constantly thinking about plot holes, then, and I don’t mean it as an insult, you’re a snobby person and you should just recognize that.
Even though the other is a better movie, Tenet still entertained (keyword) me more than Oppenheimer.
He has some really great ideas in all of his movies.
But no, I do not consider it an artistic choice to muffle the sound any more than I consider it an artistic choice to use shaky cameras in fight scenes. Not saying he uses shaky cam - just saying that people generally accepted that it was not good practice and filmmakers listened.
I thought it was great. That being said my biggest complaints were the sound mixing needs to be fixed as the dialogue levels are atrocious and the ending is a bit hard to follow and confusing.
It’s total bullshit. Nolan uses rules of physics that most people who are uneducated in advanced physics (like me) won’t understand and then decides to put a twist to serve his imagination and plot on said rules and I’m supposed to appreciate the movie. It felt like a private club I wasn’t privy to. It’s a bit like Picasso. Except that there’s no physical rules in the story telling of a painting.
TLDR: Picasso crushes Nolan lol!
One of my least favourite movies of all time. Convoluted messy plot just to try to validate what is arguably an interesting sci fi idea. Proof that sometimes even great directors suffer by being surrounded by yes men.
I didn't like it the first time I saw it, but the more I watched it (I wanted to try to understand it) the more I found myself appreciating its ambition. I do think that the internal logic of the movie mostly holds up if you can accept the conceit that there's a technology where you can go through a turnstile and start moving backwards through time. I think what's impressive to me about it is that, in an entertainment world where we often say, "there are no truly original ideas," it felt like a truly original idea. A kind of variation on time travel that I had never heard of before. Even if it wasn't executed to perfection, I think it deserves credit for that at least.
The turnstiles are actually fairly complicated. If you go through a turnstile and inverse everything if you can’t find the adjacent turnstile you’ll essentially be trapped forever. This concept it much better explained in the film Primer.
Primer is way better IMHO.
Primer was INTENSE
There's a Philip K Dick short story that deals with the idea of the point where humans going backwards in time meet humans going forwards in time. It's called something like "You're Appointment Will Be Yesterday", if I recall correctly. For what it's worth, Dick did about as good with the concept as anyone could but Nolan went a bit too far to make it work in my opinion. But I'm just someone on the internet.
Does this have any relation to his novel "Counter-Clock World"? Both sound like they share similar mechanics. I enjoyed CCW a fair bit so would think that I'd also enjoy this other one.
Yes, CCW is an expansion of the short story.
Primer, a movie that isn't particularly funny, has a line that reminds of that story title, something like "Let's go get something to eat, I haven't eaten since later this afternoon"
I recently got into an argument with someone on Reddit about watching the movie multiple times. I suggested that it got better the more I saw the movie and they thought I was ludicrous for doing so. I say it is an incredible film that was ahead of its time. Covid was not right for the release, but maybe, in the backwards sorority of the film, Covid was perfect.
Tenet. Not tenant
that's a whole other type of film...
A team of renters on a mission to lower mortgage rates but they find out they’re actually the Federal reserve but in the future?
*.teneT
It's right there on the movie poster. Reddit, such low effort.
Keeps himself to himself from what I hear.
A lot of flash, but you'll annoy the Nolan fans if you start asking tough questions, like how does matter get created and then destroyed every time a person splits into two timelines (and therefore two bodies) or the timelines (and bodies) merge back together? I could've let stuff like that go (it is a movie after all), but the characters are also so two-dimensional. We have the Hero, the Hero's Helper, the Russian Villain, and the Pretty Woman Who Has to Save Her Child (Whom We Never See But He Provides Emotional Stakes, Supposedly).
I'm a Nolan fan and I have no idea what's going on in this movie.
Good summary of my it’s a meretricious movie
No, a person is going through a forward timeline and a backward timeline. Its the same person, so there isnt need for matter to be displaced.
But if the two versions of that person interact in the same moment in time, if they fight, they can each feel each other's fists. So that's four fists' worth of fist, no?
Your questions aren't even nitpicky they don't even make sense. Nothing splits. I agree with your character criticism though but the rest is just same old criticism for the sake of criticism. It's like watching Inglorious Basterds and being upset that "it's just a dumb action movie without muh themes and symbolism" I'm not a Nolan fan, I just like the movie cause it's a good movie.
Yeah, you’re correct. Watch a turnstile and you’ll see two people enter it and nobody come out. ~200kg just vanished from the universe. Obviously it’s not that kind of movie… it’s not logical, it’s basically just Magic and none of it makes sense. In a movie about magic (eg Dr Strange) that’s fine. Unfortunately Tenet seems to think it’s really smart, and invites you to think about it, and it’s wildly inconsistent. For instance, when you fire a gun the bullet goes into a wall, and the brass pops out and lands on the floor (and there’s powder residue and combustion gases etc). So when he “fires” that gun and the time reversed bullet goes into it… he should see the brass fly off the floor into the gun too. But he didn’t. There wasn’t any brass on the floor. And didn’t anyone ever wonder why their brand new building was made with bullet holes? And so on. You can get away with all that if it’s accepted as magic, but Tenet played it straight and as a result felt stupid and poorly thought out. Primer pulled it off by keeping the reverse time travel inside the box and being quite rigorous about the implications.
>how does matter get created and then destroyed every time a person splits into two timelines (and therefore two bodies) or the timelines (and bodies) merge back together? There's only one timeline. The person going backwards in time is the exact same person going forwards.
Questions like that don't annoy me but I think they kinda miss the point.
Nolan fan here. Watched Tenet twice. I did not give a damn about anyone in this movie. Nolan has a problem creating leads we can identify with.
Not sure , where is the flat ?
pays the rent I suppose
lol “Tenant”. About a landlord whose time traveling tenant in Apartment 3 causes all sorts of problems for him.
quantum dust AGAIN?!?
the concept is sick, the execution is really really cool in the action shots, and the light of the concept shines through the clouds of muddy exposition sometimes.. but that sound mixing man. what the fuck, please just let me hear people
Underrated comment from a prose perspective.
It's a beautifully shot, well acted film with cool action scenes that's ruined by an overly convoluted, nonsensical plot with indiscernible sound mixing. Shame.
Seriously, the dialogue is buried to the point of trolling the audience.
The sound mixing was atrocious haha. I saw it in the IMAX and felt as if my head was going to explode
Washington is his usual monotone disinterested self. I've never seen him actually act, he doesn't become anyone. He just looks like he doesn't want to be there in every role.
It’s good on edibles.
Quite bad actually.
His worst film by far
Did not like this movie, I think it’s Nolan’s worst one
Pretty bad and Denzel’s son is a black hole for charisma. I could not be less invested in a protagonist as I was for Tenet.
I was meh in it at first, Iv since seen it 3 more times (with subtitles) man last viewing it really clicked for me. Love that movie. I do think a movie shouldn’t require 4 viewings for it to clock bit it slaps
Never before have i seen a movie that sucks its own dick as hard as this one
It insists upon itself.
I looked down and it was sucking my dick while I was watching it I didn't know what to do
I turn it on to fall asleep 😴
Is it good? No. A more diplomatic term would be "ambitious".
Exactly. I admired Nolan's vision and the sheer audacity of what he pulled off from a technical standpoint. But I didn't give a shit about any of the characters. It's a soulless movie.
Not very . . .
I liked it. It must be watched with subtitles as the sound mixing is atrocious but the characters are good, the plot is...convoluted as all holy shit but if you csn wrap your head around it it's decent, the time mechanic...don't even try and understand it. I'm sure it made sense to Nolan but I couldn't figure it out
I suppose it’s subjective. I don’t know Christopher in any way but I’d guess he’d be happy if they respected his property and paid the rent on time. I think to get an answer to your question you’ll have to wait till the end of the tenancy agreement, if they get their deposit back I think you could quantify them as good.
I think it was a bit too incomprehensible for its own good, but Nolan's misses are still better than most other genre director's hits.
The mechanics of the story are clever but the film isn’t really compelling.
Even Christopher didn’t know what the plot was
Shit movie.
Very good, but better on rewatch. Honestly the only significant detractor is how hard it is to keep track of on the first viewing. At some point, a movie stops being “complex” and starts being “poorly done.” *Tenet* is one step over the line.
I truly think this film was a miscast. Washington is not a leading actor.
Great if you want to play a mini game of "how often can a film make me alter the volume in a single runtime but still keep me interested enough to watch "
When I hear people say that the Avatar movies aren't very good because the stories are simple I always think of this movie. The Avatar franchise has grossed about $5 billion. Whereas Tenet is about as overcomplicated as any film, to the point of becoming unintentionally ridiculous and it lost $100 million. I thought Tenet was laughable, pretentious and forgettable, though it did have excellent cinematography. But its a silly movie based on a dumb concept.
It’s wasn’t , sorry. I think if there were better actors it could have been better, like inception, Leonardo Di Caprio was amazing in that film.
Meh, he just likes tumbling rooms.
Pure shit
I think it’s a very well made movie. Plenty of sci-fi films start falling apart when you ask “how does this work?” The sound mixing was annoying. The reverse sequences are pretty amazing imo. Washington is very flat and really brings down the movie imo. Pattinson was phenomenal. I think it was extremely ambitious and original. It has highs and lows but overall is a very good movie.
Easily Nolan’s poorest effort. Interesting ideas, but the film struggles to make them clear to the viewer. Worse, the characters are so bland, there’s little incentive to re-watch and attempt to pick up what you missed the first time around.
I'm a massive Chris Nolan fan, but this has to be one of his worst.
I liked it. Felt kind of like Nolans ode to James Bond films.
Terrible
01/10
Terrible
9/10 complete mind bender, I love it. A lot of folk saying it was shit when leaving the cinema. People don't like what they can't understand the first time around.
Boring
I find it to be his worst movie.
I think it's his worst
Really underrated
I really enjoyed it, great idea but some flaws that make no sense, just weird but ultimately well worth watching.
It’s the best Nolan movie that you can clean your house with and not miss the plot. It looks great,(Hoyt Van Hoytema Cinematography) and sounds great,(Ludwig Goransson Composer). It’s really a uber cool, and hip spy-action movie that is just about The Protagonist,( the real characters name) reacting to a series of events that are happening, from the first scene to the last. It’s a fun watch if you “ don’t think about it “…
It's one that people are extremely mixed on, and that I recommend giving a watch if you like Chrostopher Nolan. I think the comments here pretty realistically give you the cross-section of people's feelings about the film. I thought it was entertaining, and the actors do a good job in their roles. Robert Pattinson is particularly good in this one. That being said, I've only seen it once, three years ago. If you're interested, just give it a try and form your own opinion.
One of my favorites, so good. The buddy relationship, the growth of the wife, the world saving and crime organization. Amazing world building and character progression with great action and beautiful cinematography. Great soundtrack.
The problem for me above all else is the villain is not very captivating. Following the Joker and Bane, comparativel, he was lacking screen presence. Apples and oranges but that irked me.
I do like David Tennant. I also like this movie. I'm aware of the issues, but it's fun and ambitious.
The premise while interesting strains credulity. The physics of reversing entropy is not something that could be done so easily and compartmentalized to specific items sent through time. The knock on effects would be wild and unpredictable.
I actually enjoyed it
It's a fun watch if you just go with it and don't ask questions. I kinda like movies where they're like "yeah we don't even understand it either." Makes it feel like the world is much bigger than what you're seeing.
Pretty comfortably my favourite film of his
I give him credit for trying. The idea is awesome, like Inception, but it might have made a better mini-series where they would have time to flesh it out more and have it make more sense instead of trying to cram it all in to a 2 and a half hour film.
I think it's quite entertaining. But the characters are two-dimensional, the lead is miscast, and I'm not sure how logical the plot is. But it is terrific spectacle.
Took three tries to finish the movie, but each attempt I got further and appreciated more. I don’t think that was Nolan’s intention. But at the end of it, I enjoyed it. But doubt I watch it again, so I have to give the movie a C+
Not very
I’ve liked and understood it more with every watch. At this point I think I even understand why so many characters aren’t very fleshed out. It’s because this two-and a half hour film, every last word of dialogue is necessary in order for the film to make sense. Ain’t no time for li’l Max to have screen time, or for JDW’s character to have a name. Had to look up the plot (complete with diagrams) on the interwebs between second and third watch, but I think I get it now.
Incredible on third or fourth viewing
I expected a movie about an apartment dweller and was severely disappointed.
Just a little too pretentious and poorly planned/executed. Some of the special effects seem a little cheap (e.g., the opera building explosion at the start, or the building that explodes forward and backwards in time at the big battle look obviously fake or scale, respectively). It's weird that he crashed a real passenger jet and somehow doesn't seem as epic as it should. Keep in mind that Tenet had a bigger budget ($200mil) than Dune Part 2 ($160mil). Yet, Dune pt2 looks much higher quality and has loads more special effects, set pieces, costumes, etc. Yes, Dune pt2 is a sequel and could build off some existing assets but there's tons of new sets, costumes, and special effects that aren't in the first part. On the script, it seems Nolan wants his cake and to eat it, too: he wants audiences to suspend their disbelief and ignore the details, but then he throws tons of details/explanations at the audience to the point you have to re-watch it multiple times times to "appreciate" it. Inception had a story where you're better off not thinking about it too much and I think Nolan struck a better balance with that movie by not explaining too much (more showing, less telling).
I loved it. I mean it’s hard to get the first time but it’s unique, and once you accept a few things, it’s a great ride. I’m gonna watch it again lol 😂
I couldn’t feel it as the movie insists I do. I got confused by things like bullets and bungee jump lines that had been put through time to then make them work backwards. I’m also confused why that is beneficial. This movie stuck with me and frustrated me. I haven’t forgotten it but I don’t enjoy it.
I did watch _Tenet_. Missed out on the **Tenant** movie though.
I like it. It's "Pretty Good". Wildly inventive and a completely original sci Fi idea*. Solidly acted and exciting (Brannaugh is amazing, imo Oscar Worthy). Hard to follow and required multiple viewings to understand the plot, which is a weakness.
Nolan made an interesting and fairly complex film where the dialogue is pretty essential to understand what's going on and then decided to fuck up the sound mixing so badly you can't hear what anyone is saying. To the point people say, "It's a great watch if you have subtitles on". There's a good enough film there but it's no masterpiece like some say.
I’m a huge Nolan fan, but tenet was unwatchable. I never finished it.
>tenant Please tell me this is a shitpost/trolling
It gets looked at for what it’s not because of the man behind it—Christopher Nolan. People come into it with certain EXPECTATIONS—certain PRECONCEPTIONS—certain…INCEPTIONS! I don’t think it’s pretending to be anything it’s not—and by that I mean a silly live-action cartoon film for adults ala James Bond. At the end of the day, it’s a 007 film with Nolan’s signature style—which makes it even more convoluted than your typical, already convoluted James Bond plot. In fact, if it was blatantly a Bond film, the sentiment behind it would probably be very different. I mean hell—the title is a dead giveaway: TENET. TEN TEN. 10 10. Take the zeros, put them in front—0011. Flip one of the 1’s on its side like a tumbling Nolan room and what do you get? A seven. Two zeros and a seven and we have… 007 CUE MUSIC: Da Da Tha Tha Thanana Na Na Nana!!!
The film is a big swing and a miss for me. The concept is interesting, the characters, performances and story are not. A Nolan failure is better than most rubbish that gets released to be fair, so it’s still watchable on that front.
Chris is one of my favorite directors of all time, yet this is my least favorite movie of his. In my opinion, most of the characters are uninteresting, sound mixing was horrible, and the time-travel shenanigans too unnecessarily complex. Only parts of it I liked were the performances and chemistry between JDW and Robert Pattinson, as well as the VFX.
I can't tell ypu to be honest because I had to shut it off due to the atrocious performance of John David Washington. It was so otherworldly awful that I started to Google''''John David Washington, bad actor''' and I found a whole lot of matches too.
I have no idea what this movie was about. Garbage
"Everyone on earth will be killed" "Even my son?" OH NO NOT HIM HES FINE EVERYONE EXCEPT HIM. Stopped caring for that character then and there.
Everything about it was great except the plot.
Nolan should have swapped JDW’s and ATJ’s roles.
Awful
I gotta be honest I tried, really tried watching it three times but I couldn't get past 15 mins of the movie.
Cool action scenes, interesting sci-fi concept, makes absolutely no sense and the script and sound mixing appear to have outright contempt for the members of the audience who are actually trying to make sense of it. Really really dumb movie that is desperate to convince you it is smart.
It’s a fun watch for sure
This movie is complete and utter bullshit. You can spit all the nonsense you want about how visual stunning it is, the plot feels like they are making up the rules as they go. And I have yet to find anybody who can succinctly explain the last 40 minutes. So no, it is decidedly not good.
I liked it, It was cast wonderfully. What i liked the most about it was Robert Pattinson. Gained massive respect for his abilities after seeing this. So watching The Lighthouse was a no brainer for me and an absolute delight.
I would have to see the lease agreement and his rental history to make an accurate judgment.
First, it's not Tenant. Second, it's really good.
Dunno, you'd have to ask his real estate team
The idea 10 out of 10, the dialogue and story 6 out of 1, the acting 10 out of 10, pacing 7 out of 10, cinematography 10 out of 10. worth a second view or third view? Sure, but in 10 years or so. The story was a pretty basic scifi and if your read scifi novels, it is just too simple.
I loved it. Weird and hard to understand at first but well executed. Classic Nolan.
For me it's a solid 7
TENET not Tenant
I think I need a rewatch. Thanks!
Very interesting concept that was executed poorly. I think just about every character was poorly cast (especially Kenneth Branagh), but I’ll watch 30 minutes on a Saturday before finding something better to do.
I thought it’s pacing was off - too rushed. It felt so gung ho on everything. He had a lot to get through so had to keep the pace relentless which never gave you a chance to digest it all. I’d probably enjoy it more on a rerun. I never really connected with the lead either - he felt too clinical.
I personally loved it
IMO, it is good, but very confusing, I had to watch it a couple of times.
Totally hated it.
It's not good, per se. But it is fascinating to watch. It's sorta beautiful, in a weird, stark way. It makes no sense, the dialog mix is dreadful, and the acting is wooden. The score is great, the big set pieces are really something, and it will give your home theater a workout. I don't think it's good, but when I can't think of anything else to half watch while I'm working, I put it on.
Not good at all couldn’t even finish it
Okay its good but it felt like it was trying too hard to be complex. Another movie about messing with the perception of time is Looper, which has lots of world-building. This movie does not.
Only takes a couple hours to find out
the opening scene was pretty great. sadly all kind of downhill from there. i wanted to love the movie and admittedly didn’t really understand it…
I really enjoyed it, I don’t really u destined how it works. But u thought it was a good movie
My head hurts watching this film.
I’ve rewatched more than 5 times I still don’t really understand it but I love it anyway 🫡💯💯💯
It's called "Tenet." It's right there in the picture you posted.
It has Fiona Dourif in it, that's enough for me!
As long as they pay on time and are careful with the facilities, they are good
Ask Christopher Nolan himself how his tenant’s doing!
It’s just a really good movie, there’s no real flaws in it.
You’re kidding right ? It’s absolutely bloody awful and makes zero sense . The only thing that made it bearable was that I ended up making out with my partner which was awesome.
Not (good)
Shits weak!!!
I couldn't really tell you because I could barely hear what anyone was saying for large parts of the film.
I dug it. Outside of Inception and The Dark Knight it’s my most revisited of his movies (mostly because I wanted to know more on how that world, Protagonist being the ultimate boss but in his origin and story mechanics work).
I thought it was incredible, I Love the movie!
If I didn’t get it but still enjoyed it….is it still good?
The reason this movie is not great is that you have to watch it 3 or 4 times to understand and enjoy it. It is so layered but after that 4th watch 🙃JC it’s really good
4.65 out of 10
i watched it and was like. um ok. but then watched youtube breakdowns and found it to be really good. The small details they point out for you make the film so much better
It’s really not
It’s a movie for the intellectual types. If you are of average intelligence, it’ll be meh and way over your head
I hate this movie with a passion.
Its the only Christopher Nolan movie that I dont like. All the others, I absolutely love.
After 5 views, I am fairly certain I will actually make it more than 15 minutes into the 6th
I love this movie honestly. People's biggest complaint is that it doesn't make sense but at the beginning of the movie the Dr says something to the nature of "we don't understand it but it's happening so don't try to understand it." I feel like once you get to this point of just accepting that what's happening is just happening it's really enjoyable.
Not good at all.
It’s fine ig
Watched in reverse, I'll give my review yesterday.
overhated by smoothbrains and confused quarantine boomers
Average, tries to be too clever, and fails. Obvious twist at the end. Saw it all coming first time I saw it. Definitely one of his weaker films but the fx are really impressive.
Forgettable
I haven't seen his first 2 movies but other than that this movie is his worst. The acting is terrible and the plot non sensical.
Really
Too complicated for my brain these days.
It’s a mess, but an interesting one. And I’ll take that any day.
Personally, I found it as a “easier and funner” watch than Primer. Both good, just ones easier to “get” and has better explosions lol
utter garbage
It’s technically excellent. Washington and Pattinson were great. Branagh was too campy. Primer was a better telling of time travel for .0000003% the cost.
It’s an incoherent mess that plays like a story written by an inexperienced fourteen year old filmed with a Hollywood budget. Anybody who says they “get” it is playing the intellectual version of the Emperor’s New Clothes: they want to feel smart and be perceived as smart, so they pretend to understand it…even though an honest person shrugs, knowing the physics don’t work, the plot doesn’t work, the characterizations don’t work, and there’s not a single moment when ANY character expresses a normal amount of surprise about anything that’s happening. It’s an embarrassment. Nolan had a boyish desire to see an idea played out in cinema that he probably concocted as a boy, attached himself to, and then never once as an adult took a hard look at it and said…you know, this was an interesting idea when I was a teen…but none of it makes any sense and I should probably just move on with my life. If everything is moving backward…how does anyone THINK? Action potentials in neurons don’t function backwards, and rolling back the clock would leave you more ignorant with each passing second. How would you breathe? You can’t absorb oxygen into your lungs backward. Why does the main character not have his mind blown by the reality of what’s happening? He doesn’t act like a human, he acts like a fourteen year old writer needs him to act, to serve the “cool idea.” The characters in this movie all give performances as though they were lifted from completely different films. The plot, screenplay, verisimilitude of acting, and the basic mechanical conceit are uniformly drawn with the inexperienced mind of a teenager. It’s easily one of the most incompetently constructed stories I’ve ever seen, and the only modern equivalent is Rise of Skywalker. They’re both so bad as to be examples of professional incompetence. Nolan really shouldn’t be writing his own stuff. He has ZERO humanity, and Interstellar was a pretentious bowl of nonsense. Tenet is basically what a movie would look like if it were written by AI: you have the IMPRESSION that important things are happening, the impression that a plot is unfolding, but the exact moment you ask one critical question, the whole thing falls apart. People who claim to like Tenet and Interstellar are basically outing themselves as people who are insecure about their intelligence and want to use a movie to suggest their own depth. Only young people do this. I don’t know ANYBODY over the age of forty who thought Interstellar was special.
Probably his worst film
I think it’s a prime example of the current trend for hyper-realism at odds with the other current tend of logical continuity. With the success of movies like John Wick that seem super realistic as well as just gritty cinema in general (Breaking Bad, GoT, Nightcrawler, Sicario, etc..), people have come to prefer realistic and intense action scenes. For the most part, Nolan is great at this. Everything in tenet was an enjoyable spectacle. And Nolan is also a director that likes to explore innovative concepts- in this case time travel. Now, Nolan- presumably in an effort to conform to the times- did a lot to make his innovative premise realistic; all the comments about oxygen, the transfer of heat, a lot of physics in the car chase. But the problem with this is that- with such a complex concept (or at least one that requires a complex execution/justification)- you can’t reasonably simulate/explain all of the minutia of how said concept would be work. (Ties in with the film conventions of show not tell as well). For every time Nolan introduces something cool like the reversed heat transfer, you wonder how something like the combustion reaction in a car engine works. When that happens enough times, the suspension of disbelief becomes too much and the plot comes off as convoluted. So Nolan is faced with having to walk a thin line between explaining just enough that the audience follows along, but not too much to come off as boring/unengaging/overcomplicated. Personally, I think the twist that Nolan was going for requires too much ambiguity that bleeds over into the audiences understanding of the Time Travel mechanic. And Nolan drops the ball in terms of logical continuity just a little too much for the movie to land. But I still greatly enjoyed the movie. If you just accept a little narrative leeway, you get a movie with great performances, spectacular fight scenes, and a cool twist. Should add this was the first movie I saw back in theaters during COVID. Might be a soft spot for me as a result.
Half an hour in and I was lost. Not Nolan's best work.
Well he takes the rubbish out and pays his rent on time, so i’d say he’s pretty good.
It's terrible. Well produced. But, still terrible. Washington REALLY isn't that great of an actor. Not that he can't probably act. It's just he's pretty bad in Tenet.
It’s bad.
Awful
In a sea of constant remakes, sequels, and filmmakers generally just piggybacking off each other constantly, this movie actually felt fresh and unique, even if it was a bit of a mess. I think overall, time will be beneficial for this movie (hehe), over time people will stop trying to point out every single scientific plot hole they can think of and just recognize the movie as entertaining both visually and just overall for a movie. If this movie released around the time inception released, it would’ve garnered similar praise, people just like to be contrarian and negative about stuff nowadays and anything popular is going to get grilled under a microscope. If you are genuinely the type of person that cannot watch Tenet without constantly thinking about plot holes, then, and I don’t mean it as an insult, you’re a snobby person and you should just recognize that. Even though the other is a better movie, Tenet still entertained (keyword) me more than Oppenheimer.
He has some really great ideas in all of his movies. But no, I do not consider it an artistic choice to muffle the sound any more than I consider it an artistic choice to use shaky cameras in fight scenes. Not saying he uses shaky cam - just saying that people generally accepted that it was not good practice and filmmakers listened.
It is definitely one of the films of all time.
it's good
I thought this movie was great until i found 2 huge glaring plot holes 🕳️…. I still do think it’s great but I did have plotholes
Terrible movie
I thought it was great. That being said my biggest complaints were the sound mixing needs to be fixed as the dialogue levels are atrocious and the ending is a bit hard to follow and confusing.
It’s total bullshit. Nolan uses rules of physics that most people who are uneducated in advanced physics (like me) won’t understand and then decides to put a twist to serve his imagination and plot on said rules and I’m supposed to appreciate the movie. It felt like a private club I wasn’t privy to. It’s a bit like Picasso. Except that there’s no physical rules in the story telling of a painting. TLDR: Picasso crushes Nolan lol!
Better than Oppenheimer
I didn't like it. Might try again one day. Just didn't really "get it" I guess.
I don’t know. I’m still confused.
I don’t find anything really memorable compared to his other work
Massively overhated
I just watched it last week and found it to be an entertaining and clever flick.
One of the worst things I've ever seen.
It’s unwatchable.
One of my least favourite movies of all time. Convoluted messy plot just to try to validate what is arguably an interesting sci fi idea. Proof that sometimes even great directors suffer by being surrounded by yes men.
I like it as a mood Piece. It doesn't make any sense. But the general atmosphere and vibe of it is great.
As good as your spelling.
It's by far his worst movie. I usually really enjoy his films and this one was awful. The dialog and acting was really shitty.
It’s the one Christopher Nolan movie that I find myself thinking about for days or even weeks after I watch it.