FILM REVIEW: Tenet - Vue Cinemas, The Lowry, Salford.

Going to the cinema will be a little bit different for a while longer yet. With social distancing, one-way systems, and enhanced hygiene measures in place, expect a safer but still a super visit. Don't forget to wear your face mask, unless you're exempt.

Today, I watched the latest movie from Christopher Nolan, "Tenet". Director and writer, Nolan is known for a smorgasbord of Hollywood movies including: "Batman Begins", "Interstellar", "Inception", "Dunkirk", and my personal favourite, "The Prestige". He is a movie producing machine.
"We're living in a twilight world", couldn't be a more fitting phrase from the script to describe this current period of ambiguity and obscurity because of the pandemic. In the story though, it was a code phrase said often alongside the password "Tenet". Holding on to this information and fighting for the continuation of the human race, a man known as The Protagonist embarked on a journey from country to country. Making his way through a dangerous and twilight world of international espionage, to complete a mission to prevent World War III. Nothing about Nolan's imaginative motion picture was linear. You had to remove yourself from the socially conditioned construct of start, middle, and end. Time itself was inverted, accelerated, twisted, and reversed. I wonder if Nolan became friends with filmmaker David Lynch recently?

From the intense and perilous opening scene you were hooked, especially with its abnormalities. Your eyes were glued to the big screen throughout because each scene aroused curiosity in its complexity. On occasion, the only minor comment would be, the twist and turns of the plot were difficult to comprehend. But, ultimately, that meant it was unpredictable and I enjoyed it for that reason. I eventually embraced the mind-bending science-fiction of causation being flipped on its head. I wouldn't expect anything less from Nolan - a film also incorporating his trademark flashbacks and prolepsis.

John David Washington's performance as The Protagonist was nuanced. He was tough and agile in the many fight sequences, but also calm and suave in his encounters with colleagues and acquaintances. Kat played by Elizabeth Debicki conveyed vulnerability but also courage and love for her son. Kenneth Branagh's masterly portrayal of Andrei Sator was thoroughly intimidating and abusive. Michael Caine is quite simply, Michael Caine: cool and legendary. But technically, he played the role of Michael Crosby. Of course Caine was in it, albeit briefly, it's a Christopher Nolan film.

The music score was stylistically typical of a Nolan film; packed with power, drama, and action. Creatively bespoke to the film too, the music sometimes sounded like it is being rewound and played in reverse. Composer, Ludwig Goransson did an excellent job. Meanwhile, every punch and gunshot was that loud and authentic you could feel it, particularly with the surround sound. Appropriate for the action and thriller genre.

Time travel and teleportation was given the Nolan touch in a dystopian world where the past was in the present and the future was in the past. Timelines existed side by side like a network of train tracks. The film term "Fabula" holds no place in Nolan's dictionary. The verdict: mind-blowing, stimulating, and action-packed. A great reason to visit the cinema again.

Reviewer - Sam Lowe
on - 24/8/20