Tenet

⭐ 7.5/10

(Originally written by Tim)

There are not many movies that could get me into the theaters these days, but I made an exception for Christopher Nolan (and the broken promise of a Dune trailer). This was a great movie to experience in theaters, because I don't really imagine I will be watching it again.

I did really enjoy it, and like all Nolan movies it forces you to lock in and pay attention. This one uses some funky inverted time mechanics to push the plot forward, and it is confusing but also fun to try and put all the puzzle pieces in place.

That said, it reminded me a bit of Inception, but not in a good way. It is so caught up in its own devices that the story kind of falls flat, and the harder you think about it the less it makes sense. I believe a character in the movie literally tells another character just to not think about it.

The motivations of the characters are a bit flimsy, with our protagonist chasing MacGuffins, and the female lead's only driver is her incessant love for a son we never meet. There is tons of exposition in the movie, and even then I was still confused on why they were going there or why he was doing that.

It features some pretty amazing action scenes that have you wondering how they pulled it off, but trying to figure out who is moving in reverse and what they are trying to accomplish ends up being kind of distracting. I think these moments would be the most rewarding on a second watch, but at that point you are kind of analyzing the piece and losing sight of the whole puzzle.

Anyways, the score is still high because I had a great time watching it and can't stop thinking about it. The movie looks incredible, and every location in the movie must have cost millions just to get the rights to film there. It was a fun time at the movies, and it gave me a lot to chew on.