Tenet: Special Edition (DVD)

Not that I'm smart, mind you. But I was smart enough to know a) much of the technical & scientific concepts here are way over my head but b) I can still follow what the smart people are doing. It's like listening to Carl Sagan; I have no idea how he knows what he knows, but I know what he's saying is based in fact.That said, I thought I was going to dislike this movie, or be bored by it or disappointed in it. I have all of Nolan's movies and none of them is better than this. This is a sleeper. People won't figure out how incredibly good this is for years.It was all about the visuals for me until the one-hour point. Then, suddenly, it turned. I thought, Oh, this is where it's going to start to suck, like so many other viewers have written. But no. For another hour and 25 minutes, I couldn't leave my seat. I rewound it several times to make sure I caught what it looked like had just happened, just to make sure.This is Nolan's mind, unleashed. And because he took years to develop this in his head, there is a little too much here for it to be perfect. But I'm just glad he let me come along for the ride because, by the end, I was gobsmacked.I really believe that if someone says it's not that good or not Nolan's best, they watched it too casually, or maybe they didn't even understand it, even though they thought they understood the concepts. But I'm betting they didn't.Maybe if I wanted to point out some flaws I could talk about the editing, or the length of some scenes. But there were no flaws in script or acting. I was disappointed about one thing, which you might find funny. There's a teaser that's been airing for months, before the movie was mothballed because of the virus. Robert Pattinson is in a room with JD Washington, expressing a little doubt about whether or not something will work or happen. I can't remember his straight line right now, but JD says, "Well, try to keep up," in a facetious tone with a big smile. That's just a 2-second gem, but they took it out of the movie! Or at least the digital version I watched here.I bought the package with the added features, so I'll check to see if it's on DVD. But as I said, it's a small thing.And yes, the sound is muffled. I had to turn my computer and my television up to the highest volume in order to hear at all, & I watch with captions because of a hearing problem in one ear, so even then I didn't catch all the dialog. I'm about to get a Blutooth speaker, so I'll hook that up when it arrives and set it next to my couch so I can listen more closely.Other filmmakers and critics actually have mentioned the sound mix as well and I read an article by one of them, which Nolan also read and commented on. I'm not sure what he'll do about it, but maybe WB will do a re-issue of this film with an enhanced soundtrack.Of course, if I'd been able to see it in a theater, as I had planned to do, maybe the sound would be better. I saw Ford v. Ferrari in the IMAX theater at Seattle Center before the pandemic and that was SO worth it. But what if the sound mix on this movie is just as bad in the theater? I've read a few complaints indicating that.So, you don't need me to tell you the plot or really comment on the actors or the screenplay. It is what others have already said, except this: it isn't a spy thriller. That's a plot line, but it's not THE plot line. It doesn't conform in any way to any spy movie I've seen. The Protagonist exists independent of any agency. He never phones his boss for instructions or receives Top Secret documents or even is confronted by some phalanx of ideological bad guys with a network.He's on a journey and it takes him to dark places. There are bad guys. There is intrigue. But it's more about physics, and how they can be bent to achieve an end result, whether good or evil. Why it happens to JD in particular is not clear at all to me.And it doesn't end. It stops. There is more intrigue looming out there. Not sequel-worthy stuff, but more resembling real life, where nothing is ever neatly tied up in a bow while life goes on.It never resolves and that's just fine with me. I mean, do you remember the ending of Inception? or Memento? Or even Insomnia? Tying bows is not what Nolan in about. There's always something at the end of the tunnel that leads to the Batcave, but it's not what you expect.The important thing to say is that this movie is brilliant, but you might have to watch it a dozen times to appreciate it fully. There are some production mistakes, like this scene where Pattinson is lying down & then they cut to another angle and he's sitting up. There's no excuse for a bad edit like that, and it startled me & made me lose track, so I had to back it up in order to understand what they're talking about.In a movie so engrossing, every little misstep will be noticed and potentially ruin the viewer's concentration. So maybe I shouldn't have given it five stars, but if it mattered, i'd only deduct 1/10th of a star for a boo-boo. And if I'd been the editor, I would have made a few different cuts, but I'm not the editor (I have been a film editor), so I'm leaving it alone. Making a movie, bad or good, is incredibly hard from a pre- and post-production standard. This movie came together as if Nolan himself was describing it to you in person.I suspect it will be in the running for Best Musical Score, and if JD isn't nominated for Best Actor, I don't know what's wrong with the world.Nolan should also get Best Director for this. I often think about how scenes could have been directed better, but managing to tie all these ideas together cohesively and irresistibly would take God himself. I was humbled by the intricacy of the scenes, how he directed them, the choices he made. On many levels this is the best movie I've ever seen, though it won't stand up against East of Eden or Citizen Kane in the long run.It's 1 a.m and I'm writing this on a post-TENET buzz, but I believe I've written an honest review, based on the strengths and weaknesses of the movie. Buy it, rent it, watch it. It's absolutely worth it, incomparable and entertaining.

For me, Tenet Is exceptional when you realize the flow of the movie is linear despite much of the action and scenes not taking place in a truly chronological way. The primary character is - at first - an agent with skill and devotion to duty who grows into a man with purpose which returns to duty and friendship. The beauty of this movie is that this happens in a highly intellectual way through scenes and brief interactions. This movie is not for those looking for a traditional story - though much of the payoff is when you realize that, in many ways, it really a story we’ve seen many times with a wonderful sci-fi twist.Much of the problem for some- I think - is that many of us are accustomed to trying to figure out what is going on throughout the story and predicting what’s next…and this movie does not lend itself to that at all. You need to take time to be able to see it all without interruption or having to explain it to your fellow movie watchers as it plays out. I watched the movie on a quiet night on the patio alone, and - based on some of the negativity - I think that helped immensely.The science fiction aspects of the movie are twisted and the effects and camera work reflect that - often in dizzying ways. For my tastes, the amount of planning and timing and editing that must been involved is nothing short of extraordinary. Where Inception dealt with mental concepts and Interstellar with time and space relationships, Tenet deals with cause and effect - free will versus determinism and the potential impact in small and large ways. It’s a sight to see and has the potential to be nothing short of exhilarating if you can be patient and wait for the movie and concept to come to you.To be fair, it’s not a perfect movie - some of the dialogue can be hard to understand at times and certain effects and music in the audio track overwhelm requiring you to really focus on the characters, but I can’t help but wonder if some of that is intended. Increasing your focus in those moments helps and there is context, and in real terms, it resembles our attempts to understand people in real life in a loud room or when others are talking as we try to listen to someone else. Only Nolan and the production team know for sure, but I wasn’t turned off by that aspect.To those with complaints about the acting, I will simply state - you are missing the point. The characters aren’t meant to be over the top and crazy. There isn’t Heath Ledger’s Joker in this movie (as incredible as he was), and that’s by design. These are humans dealing with something they never knew they would need to understand. The emphasis on development is OURS to see and learn and is never shoved in our faces.I loved this movie, but I f you’re looking for a fun ride to watch with a group of friends who like to chat or are constantly causing distractions - this is NOT the movie to watch. Missing small moments can leave future moments without context. Watching the movie in portions would likely detract from your experience. So set aside the time, and be ready to really take it in - it’s worth it.