Christopher Nolan's Tenet (August 12th, 2020)

[Zurdo95D]

So no one here was at all feeling the soundtrack and the goosebumps they got when the sound was being played over the action sequences?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah I did too! The soundtrack is so cool and fitting to the action sequences.

 

[The Chaver]

Yeah I did too! The soundtrack is so cool and fitting to the action sequences.

Yep, can't say that I've seen or heard anything quite like it. I can watch and listen to the opening sequence over and over again. That Haunting audio that's being played while he's getting his teeth pulled is just that, haunting.

 

[Zurdo95D]

Yep, can't say that I've seen or heard anything quite like it. I can watch and listen to the opening sequence over and over again. That Haunting audio that's being played while he's getting his teeth pulled is just that, haunting.

 

[Khev]

Late to the party but I watched this this past weekend and really didn't care for it. In fact it made me appreciate the time travel logic in Terminator and even Endgame that much more.

It didn't make sense to me that the same character (Robert Pattinson) in one moment refused to tell "The Protagonist" (which has got to be the single most pretentious character name ever, good lord) that he saw his face in the vault "because if you knew you might have reacted differently and changed something" only to later turn around and willingly go back in time to get shot in the head (??) because the timeline is inevitable and it must be done? Bah, I know that pretty much all time travel stories have inherent paradoxes and so forth but I do ask that they at least be internally consistent with their own rules.

After watching this I felt like Nolan had a picture in his head of a battle showcasing half the soldiers moving forward in time while the other half does things in reverse and then tried to hide the fact that he had absolutely no other backstory whatsoever by burying it under the notion that since the "protagonist" doesn't know what's going on (EVER!) that the audience won't feel like they should know either.

Trying to create some "whoa" moments out of a simple speech by Pattinson at the end was the height of laziness IMO.

"Who sent you?" "You did" was a cool "whoa" moment in T2 but far from the biggest bombshell that the film saved for the very end with no other context (or even logic) to back it up. Meh.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Good points.

Logic aside, sense or not, I just found it to be an utter bore.

 

[ajp4mgs]

After watching this I felt like Nolan had a picture in his head of a battle showcasing half the soldiers moving forward in time while the other half does things in reverse and then tried to hide the fact that he had absolutely no other backstory whatsoever by burying it under the notion that since the "protagonist" doesn't know what's going on (EVER!) that the audience won't feel like they should know either.

I have a hard time picturing that being the case. I can't see Nolan spending five years (yes, five! ) writing this screenplay just to construct a flimsy story in order to put a visual idea on screen. Instead, I think he got completely mesmerized by the concept of reversing entropy and how it would manifest relative to the observable progression of time. I feel that he mainly wanted to put the concept itself (not necessarily the superficial/visual applications) on screen.

This has become Nolan's defining characteristic: He isolates fascinating concepts that clearly intrigue him, and then he attempts to explore them in a way that can still be able to captivate and *entertain* mass audiences. The problem is that these concepts aren't the type that you can use Cliff's Notes with in order to effectively implement them into a narrative for a feature film.

Much like with Inception and Interstellar, I thought Tenet presented a truly outstanding concept that could be worthwhile as original and innovative material to build a movie around. These are concepts that have science-based foundations and potential future applications that can even legitimately change our understanding of reality. But trying to turn such concepts into entertaining motion pictures is a bit of a Herculean task that I don't think he conquered in either case.

For a filmmaker to do justice to conceptual material like this without turning his movie into a science documentary, he has to deftly weave it through the plot where character motivations, plot logic, pacing, and entertainment value aren't compromised by the inherent complexity of the premise. For me, Nolan missed that mark with Tenet even more than with Interstellar, and certainly more than with Inception.

But in no way do I think the film's shortcomings were the product of laziness or failure of vision. I think its issues came from Nolan struggling to force entertainment value out of a concept that he knows has plenty of intriguing intellectual value but isn't easy to convey. Providing accessible and compelling entertainment isn't easy on its own, but doing so while bending minds gets trickier. In fact, it just makes it easier to create a mess out of plot logic and character development.

 

[Otomofan]

They go into a magic room that turns them backwards.

You think it took him five years to come up with that?

 

[ZE_501]

They go into a magic room that turns them backwards.

You think it took him five years to come up with that?

..he had to illustrate the super-complex mind-bending hard science concept in an accessible fashion. MAGIC ROOM!

 

[Khev]

I love that they made the wife more evil and psychotic than Joker and Thanos combined. Willing to let billions of people (including her son?!) die just so that she can get the satisfaction of watching her ex-husband realize that he lost for *one second*??? She was beyond insane.

 

[ajp4mgs]

They go into a magic room that turns them backwards.

You think it took him five years to come up with that?

I don't know how long it took him to come up with the magic room, but I do believe him when he says that it took 5+ years to write this screenplay. After watching the actual movie, I totally understand why it's hard to reconcile that.

Even though I think the film itself was a failure, I genuinely believe that Nolan understands and appreciates the actual science behind the subject matter (both with Tenet and Interstellar). I applaud him for wanting to take concepts that may (will) someday change human understanding of the true nature of reality and make them digestible in advance by way of an entertainment vehicle. So it really bums me out that Tenet failed on a storytelling level. It depresses me that this movie might dissuade other filmmakers from tackling similar subject matter. And it will almost certainly dissuade studios from this level of financing for them.

There's a hope and expectation out there right now that recent scientific discoveries will soon lead to humanity having one of its most profound intellectual and philosophical shifts ever, and I think Nolan is genuinely excited about it and just wants to push "fast forward" to get there. When he makes movies like this, I think that's him playing with the fast forward button in his head. I only wish he had delivered better with his ambition.

Even when his effort results in a movie that I think failed, I don't want to crap on what I honestly believe was a genuine passion project for Nolan. I'd rather have more attempts at something like Tenet than more rehashes, reboots, superheroes, and utterly mundane themes that dominate modern cinema. So I give him a "D" for the end result, but an "A" for his intentions.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I'd rather have more attempts at something like Tenet than more rehashes, reboots, superheroes, and utterly mundane themes that dominate modern cinema. So I give him a "D" for the end result, but an "A" for his intentions.

I would have to agree with this. I really didn't like Tenet... but at least it was something new.

 

[Khev]

Even when his effort results in a movie that I think failed, I don't want to crap on what I honestly believe was a genuine passion project for Nolan. I'd rather have more attempts at something like Tenet than more rehashes, reboots, superheroes, and utterly mundane themes that dominate modern cinema. So I give him a "D" for the end result, but an "A" for his intentions.

I would have to agree with this. I really didn't like Tenet... but at least it was something new.

Yep I agree as well. One of the reasons I believe that I can appreciate ZSJL, TLJ and even TPM more than most. All three represented unapologetic efforts to entertain with something new (to various degrees) as opposed to a safe repackaging of previous successes. Such efforts don't automatically give a poor final product a pass but the efforts are still appreciated and even worthy of respect in most cases.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Eeesh... don't make me rethink TLJ, just don't.

 

[Khev]

The Last J--

 

[Wor-Gar]

Best line. Even in that suit.

 

[ajp4mgs]

Eeesh... don't make me rethink TLJ, just don't.

Normally I would respond to this with a Palpatine "dew it" gif, but the post in question would also have me rethink TPM, so I have to refrain on principle.

Well Khev, I'm glad you limited yourself to only 3 polarizing movies. Safe move. But now you've got me wondering what would be the three most polarizing films of all time.

 

[Khev]

You don't have to rethink TPM on whether you like it or not, but I do appreciate that Lucas was able to give his 100% uncompromised vision even if that led to a movie that went spectacularly off the rails in many cases. Compared to AOTC and ROTS where he was clearly making attempts at damage control with the backpedaling on Jar Jar screen time and Midichlorian talk and replacing them with safe fan service moves like a guy who wears Boba Fett armor, Wookiees, and what have you.

As far as the most polarizing films of all time good question, though I'm sure TLJ is tops at this point. IM3 is probably the number #1 contender from the MCU and then the entirety of the Snyderverse for DC, lol.

 

[matticus]

Damn, this Tenet thread really is taking people back in time...to bad movies.

 

[Wor-Gar]

would also have me rethink TPM, so I have to refrain on principle.

Three most polarizing films of ALL time...

That is an ambitious proposition. Not WORST films, mind you, but most POLARIZING. Meaning, some love it but most hate it, yes?

There's so many, isn't there?

Halle Berry's Catwoman
The Dark Knight Rises
Batman and Robin
Batman vs Superman
ZSJL

Hey wait a minute, why so many bad Batman movies...?

IM3
Predators

Hey wait a minute, why am I picking on Shane Black...

TLJ
TROS
AOTC
Matrix Revolutions
Showgirls

Oh wait, we can't just do terrible movies...

This is hard...

 

[The Chaver]

I dont know man. I love the movie for what it is. It?s a feel good action sci-fi film with highly contagious sounds and visuals.

The movie just feels really good. Idk. I dont try to get all pretentious like most here are doing and just enjoy what I feel, see and hear what this movie has delivered to my senses.

All movies have these types of problems. Even looking back on another movie that blew my senses, The Matrix that movie had problems but it made me feel a certain way that I never felt before and I looked past the issue it had.

Its a movie, not a bid for the Novel prize


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk