MovieChat Forums > Tenet (2020) Discussion > A misfire from Nolan?

A misfire from Nolan?

posted 2 years ago by SisterSuzy101 (367)
5 replies | jump to latest

It certainly seems that way.

The critical and audience reception is all over the place it seems, and certainly far from the critical darling that most of Nolan's previous movies have been.
The only ones giving this the highest of praise are hardcore Nolanites on the bandwagon - long-time purists who insist he can do no wrong!

The most common criticism seems to be the incoherent plot. I know Nolan's no stranger to complexity and experimentation, but at least movies like Interstellar managed to be somewhat comprehensible and intriguing - even if a second watch may be required to fully "grasp" them.
I, for one, got none of that from Tenet. It was just an overlong, cacophonous mess without any humour or engagement and I felt relieved when it was finally over.

I watched this with my brother. He's not a hardcore Nolanite by any means, but he's an avid fan of Momento, Inception, and Interstellar, yet he also disliked this to a great deal for the same reasons I did.

[–] 123Guy (7838) 2 years ago

eh....

im not a nolanite, a couple of his I will never watch again, but I think this is one of his best because of the excellent execution of a really difficult concept.

and I feel the WORST thing about this movie is the dialog mix which is so bad, its hard to understand what is going on even when they explain it to you step by step --- because you can't understand the words. bad dialog mix... not too loud just bad dialog mixing. That makes it seem extra complex, extra messy when it really isn't.

many don't care for it, and that is fine, but I enjoyed the concept and even more respect the execution of making it all work. no one's thought of this before, and I doubt anyone would bother to try to pull it off again.

i doubt you'll ever watch it again, but if you do, turn on subtitles to really read/hear what they are saying. I missed a ton in my first 3 viewings at the theater, but picked up the pieces at home with subtitles.

I hope Nolan learns to let the audio mixer do the dialog on the next film, and not him.

[–] MichaelJPollock (808) 2 years ago

>"I'm not a nolanite, a couple of his I will never watch again, but I think this is one of his best because of the excellent execution of a really difficult concept."

I feel the same way.
Discovered Nolan with 'Memento' in cinema in 2000 and have been, let's say, intrigued by his films up and until 'Inception' which thoroughly bored me (fell asleep in the theater). Same with 'Interstellar' (whereas, unsurprisingly I guess considering its title, I had managed to stay awake trough 'Insomnia', which became my personal favourite of his...). So no "Nolanite" myself either.
And when I read that 'Tenet' was "Inception x 10", boy, was I less than eager to watch what I thought would turn out to be a boring mess... and yet I absolutely liked it.
Sure it's more than a little convoluted and a bit heavy on the expository side. Sure it probably makes little scientific sense and is maybe even also less than entirely consistent internal logic wise. And yes, the (short and cocky) lead actor is a bit grating. But the execution makes it work. The mise-en-scene, the music, the editing... and there's an undercurrent of latent sadness and melancholy to that film which works very well.
Ended up re watching it several times.

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 2 years ago

I enjoyed both "Memento" and "Inception," and was especially impressed by how coherent Nolan's narratives were despite each film's respective conceit (reverse chronology and dreams within dreams).

I remain disappointed with "Tenet," though I still try to watch it & make sense of it. I still have trouble even AFTER reading Wikipedia's plot explanation

If anything, "Tenet" sorta reminds me of "Otnemem," the DVD bonus version of "Memento" rearranged into chronological order. Unlike "Tenet," the plot of "Otnemem" is straightforward, but it makes no narrative sense.

In fact, watching "Memento" and "Otnemem" back to back feels like a temporal pincer in "Tenet," with the same narrative incomprehensibility

Anyways, that's the best analogy I can come up with. Even when it makes sense, it's unsatisfying

[–] 123Guy (7838) 2 years ago

did you find the actual motivation of the plot incomprehensible? future people reversing time, hiding that vary equation for time reversal?
After a few viewings and getting past the TIME TWISTING part, I got to understanding it, and it seems totally comprehensible to me now. but, I understand this plot and delivery is not for everyone.

[–] johnmiller (4011) 2 years ago

A very interesting premise, carried out in an uninteresting way. Either Denzel Washington's son was told to act completely emotionless in this, or that is just his level of "acting." I didn't find myself caring what happened to the characters or the fate of the world, or whatever the heck was supposed to be at stake here.