#57

I did that too! Thought he’d got fat and old.

#58

Hench and mature*

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#60

Saw this in 70mm earlier this week. Can’t imagine seeing it on a smaller screen and enjoying it as much as I did - VFX were truly incredible, to the extent that I didn’t notice them, I just bought absolutely everything that was happening onscreen. Think the last film to do that was probably Inception. Basically (visually, at least) the opposite of an MCU film where every 10 minutes you’re dropped unceremoniously into the uncanny valley.

Comes to pieces the second you start to question any of it, but I didn’t do that while I was watching the film which is all I ask for really. Nolan is very good at this imo. I also appreciate a time travel film that understands its central premise is nonsense and outright tells the audience that, so “Don’t think about it, feel it” is second only to Jeff Daniels’ line in Looper “this time time travel crap just fries your brain”.

He’s fucking brilliant in Tenet, arguably the best thing about it. But if you don’t like his chirpy-posh-boy thing (is that his thing? I don’t think I’ve seen a Robert Pattinson film before) then I can see how it could grate.

It was both, and that’s the fundamental problem with it, if you’re looking for one. Thinks it’s very clever, yet patronises the audience to a remarkable degree (given Nolan’s previous tendency towards assuming the audience is keeping up). Didn’t bother me unduly but I can totally understand the people who hated it on this basis.

Feels like I’m the only person who didn’t have this problem. Bar a few lines of dialogue that were indecipherable under gas masks in the very first scene, I’m sure I could hear it all. But I saw it at Amsterdam’s equivalent of the BFI so it was LOUD. My friend has a theory that smaller cinemas mute the sound a little (possibly even compress it?) and that’s the reason so many people have been having difficulties.

Basically where I’m at.

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#61

This may or may not be a sign of a good film but my take is the complete opposite to yours. Loved Pattinson (don’t think I’ve ever seen him in anything before, certainly nothing in the last 10 years) but thought JDW was a charisma vacuum. He was great in BlackKklansman so I read it as a deliberate choice to play the character as ‘cold’ (which ties into simply calling him The Protagonist, on the nose though that might be) vs Pattinson’s warmth. If i were really pretentious I could draw a parallel between this and the inverse-explosion scene, but I won’t.

The physicality he brings is really something, though. Felt every single punch of that corridor fight.

TIL Aaron Taylor-Johnson is

  1. English
  2. in Tenet

Think this is the first time since Kick-Ass that I’ve seen him be remotely likeable/charismatic.

#62

I also did not have this problem. Not sure why everyone else did.

Seen it twice now anyway, first time at the Everyman (decadent, comfy) second time in 4DX (pointless, fun), and really like it. Not going to try to preach to anyone that they should like it too, but I really don’t understand the hate. Each to their own I guess.

Thought it was extremely well done, score was brilliant, JDW fantastic again.

#63

I’d assumed the audio just hadn’t been levelled correctly in automated cinemas (I saw it on film) but someone else on the thread was complaining about both inaudible dialogue AND excessive volume, so clearly it isn’t that.

I shall be seeing it again. Dunkirk in IMAX might be the last time I lost myself so totally in a film. I understand and to a point agree with every criticism I’ve heard/read, but it comes down to pure enjoyment doesn’t it? “Don’t think about it; feel it”

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#64

Think all the stuff about dialogue being muffled/indistinct is some weird Nolan in-joke - so many weird scenes of exposition where they’re shouting over the top of a powerboat, or R Patz is falling asleep while explaining something, or Michael Caine talking through a mouthful of chips. Just felt every moment of exposition was deliberately obtuse.

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#65

I enjoyed it but it was total bollocks. The last 5 minutes were just a sloppy followed through brainfart. Pattinson says they’re best mates in the future and protag recruited him, what??? Then he goes and shoots the Indian lady in the car and says they’ve both been working for him the whole time? So he recruited himself in the future? What??

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#66

Not really sure what to make of that. Looked great. Built tension amazingly at times but without any release beyond the start of the next, bigger threat. Some brilliant noises on the soundtrack. Was total bollocks.

Clearly aiming to be a new Inception but where the internal logic of that one lets you argue for different interpretations, here it just seemed opaque or stupid.

The central idea of people travelling in opposite directions seems like it should make for great action scenes but, despite impeccable execution, it simply didn’t work for me. Impossible to get any sense of danger or geography in the final battle when all the explosions are going backwards.

Neil must have come back from significantly further in the future to start with so is he going forwards or backwards?

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#67

Oh. Swiss cinemas often show English films with original sound and both French and German subtitles so didn’t have any problems with the dialogue but could tell it would have been an issue.

#68

Still don’t have a clue how the inverted bullets work. Think a lot of the film’s logic probably doesn’t hold up to as much scrutiny as Nolan would hope for.

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#69

Ah good question but they had simply reversed the entropy of the electrons.
Do you see now?

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#70

I liked when Clemence Posey said ‘don’t try to understand’ aka ‘this is clearly nonsense but go with it cause you’ve another 2 hours of stuff that doesn’t make sense to worry about’

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#71

I watched it with my 4 year old nephew and he switched off after half an hour, saying it was pathetically asinine

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#72

Very articulate 4 year old!

#73

I didn’t really

#74
  • The world will end, everyone will die
  • Including my son?
  • Oh actually no he’ll be fine. Everyone else though… will die.
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#75

Saw it this afternoon. Just a big budget version of the backwards-world episode of Red Dwarf isn’t it?


Liked the scene where there were loads of soldiers practicising fighting backwards in the background. Not sure if Nolan’s just having a laugh at this point
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#76

Also weird that people were talking about freeports on here earlier in the week and then it turns up as a major plot point in Tenet

#77

I just got back from watching this. Forced myself to stay in the cinema despite wanting to leave after an hour. No likeable characters, why the fuck would you cast kenneth branagh as a Russian Hammy bad guy? why did the protagonist even like that icy woman? So many questions. I did however enjoy being back in the cinema although I was really conflicted if I could eat my sandwich or not

1 Like