Tenet 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray Review

THE MOVIE — 3¾/5

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

Review: Other than Following, which I have yet to see, I have been a big fan of Christopher Nolan’s films, even ones that weren’t exactly near perfection (like Insomnia or even The Dark Knight Rises), though even those were highly engaging and entertaining, if not bleak in the case of Insomnia. Over the years, I’ve re-watched Batman Begins, The Dark Night, Inception and Interstellar, and they still are great, if not without their flaws, of course. Some of which come front and center in his latest.

Nolan continues his fascination with time from his last two features with Tenent, a movie that certainly is mind-bending, yet also mind-numbing trying to wrap ones head around what’s going on. Sure, I get the gist of as the film in a new way does involve time travel, an inverse side to our world where the past and future converge onto the present. And I applaud Nolan for not merely playing it safe, but unlike Inception where the rules are clearer and easier to comprehend (when it came to the “kick” in each level), here it was difficult to grasp but instead of being intrigued, I had a hard time grasping for other elements to carry me along, most notably a main character with no name, credited as “The Protagonist”, and if it wasn’t Nolan, I would criticize the name alone, something I would’ve come up with during my college days of screenwriting.

This leads to another issue: John David Washington. When I first saw the trailers, thought it was great casting, especially someone who isn’t exactly in the mainstream of stardom yet. While he as the look with a slick wardrobe and thanks to the photography, does seem hella cool. Yet, in action, even though seems to be able to do some of the stunts, doesn’t hold enough charisma to carry the film. Of course, part of the problem also is with the character development. Again, no name and no real background on who he is, where he came from, etc. Even though the development for DiCaprio’s Cobb or McConaughey’s Cooper didn’t go beyond a motivation for their kids, but with “The Protagonist”, we barely get to know anything about him. So perhaps with more to work within the character development department, maybe Washington would’ve shined brighter.

In regards to the supporting cast, no incredible standouts. I did like Robert Pattinson even though his character isn’t all that well fleshed out, but in a secondary role, he’s fine. Elizabeth Debicki is a bit of a fresh face to me and carries herself well enough, doesn’t hold as much of a screen presence compared with Anne Hathaway or Rebecca Ferguson, but serviceable. And Kenneth Branagh, a Brit I believe, once again plays a Russian (as he did in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit) and I will say he’s as evil as it gets, zero redeeming values. Very much a Bond-like villain.

The next issue, and it’s not as of a big one comparatively speaking, is the dialogue. Nolan is the sole writing credit so he takes the bulk of the blame and I think it’s safe to say, it’s unlikely there were uncredited writers on a project that Nolan had been developing for over ten years. This is a movie that has the villain utter one of the more clichéd lines of, and I’m paraphrasing, “If I can’t have you, then no one will.” I’ve heard variations of this line numerous times when watching true crime (i.e. “Dateline”, “20/20”, etc.). It’s trite and just hokey. Then there is a problem that has plagued other films from Nolan, with sound design where bits of dialogue are hard to understand, and it’s permeated in this one as well. A big concern since 90% of the conversations are significant exposition.

On the plus side, no real surprise that the stunt work including car chases and the all around action like a plane crashing into a building, a kick ass assault at an opera house or a car chase/heist on the freeway, are top notch. Doesn’t quite match anything in Inception (or for an “older” film, The Matrix Revolution) but still highly entertaining and provided some thrills. Nolan has come a long way from Batman Begins where some of the action was admittedly rough. Between Inception and Tenent, does appear he’s getting ready to direct the next iteration of James Bond.

Normally I don’t mention the score but one thing Nolan’s movies, is his collaboration with composer Hans Zimmer and will admit, I adore those compositions, consistently listening to the tracks from Inception and Interstellar. This time around, with Zimmer turning down the chance to work on Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. Tackling the score is Ludwig Göransson, who won the Oscar for Black Panther. I know many mock or at least light-heartedly joke on Zimmer’s more bombastic score, apparently Göransson said, “hold my beer”. Not entirely sure what to think of it, but like the plot, it has its uniqueness and listening to the tracks on their own, there are some nice themes, though nothing I’ve heard holds a candle to ‘Time” from Inception or ‘S.T.A.Y.’ and ‘Imperfect Lock’ from Interstellar.

Yeah, that was a lengthy paragraph just to talk about the score. Not a music wonk by any stretch, but it was one of the many aspects that I focus on when it comes to Christopher Nolan’s movies.

In the end, Tenent is not top tier work from Nolan. It does have lofty ideas and conceptually it did sound interesting and to be fair, some of the execution was well done, particularly with the stunt work. The problem here, it felt empty, emotionless, cold even. I know these are criticisms hurled at Nolan by others for his works anyway, but at least with Inception and Interstellar, I actually cared about the characters while also invested in the story, here, characters were vastly underdeveloped and the story never was quite gripping, for all of the technical achievements (save for the aforementioned sound design for the dialogue). Outside of maybe Robert Pattinson, can’t say the performances were terribly memorable, and even for Pattinson, his character is a blank slate.

I would say if you are a fan of Nolan, there’s enough in Tenent to make it a worthwhile rental, if nothing else. I’m not sure how much replay value it has since I don’t really have a desire right now to revisit, but I’ll at least say there are unique elements that distinguishes it from others.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 3¾/5

This release comes in a matted slip cover and inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy.

Looking at the World in a New Way: The Making of Tenant (1:15:22) is a lengthy behind-the-scenes featurette that includes on-set footage and production stills plus interviews with members of the cast (John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, etc) and crew (Christopher Nolan, Producer Emma Thomas). Viewable either by chapter or via a play all option.

4K VIDEO – 5/5, BD VIDEO – 5/5

4K/BD AUDIO – 5/5

OVERALL – 3¾/5

Overall, Tenet isn’t one of Christopher Nolan’s better movies, probably a step ahead of Dunkirk, but there are some interesting elements and the technical aspects like the visual effects, are top notch and although it’s hard to wrap my head around the concept while watching, it is unique I’ll admit, though I’d say this is a rental because this might be divisive even within a household. Meanwhile, the 4K UHD/Blu-ray combo pack doesn’t have a plethora of features but does include a 75-minute behind-the-scenes featurette/documentary to go along with the astounding video and audio transfers.