Tenet

 It is official--the movie theaters are back open following a forced closing back in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. So many films were forced to push their release dates back ("Tenet's" release date originally being 7-17-20), that it was practically a miracle the films are starting at this time. So now, with "Tenet" being released today, 9-3, it's an epic Christopher Nolan vehicle with so many places that simply bend the mind, much like "Inception" and "Interstellar". 

Armed with only one word--Tenet--and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist (John David Washington) along with his espionage partner, Neil (Robert Pattinson), Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) and Ives (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time. Crime boss, Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh) attempts to use Tenet in order to fulfill his evil plan toward his greedy end.

Others to round out the cast are Michael Caine as Michael Crosby, Himesh Patel as Mahir, Clemence Poesy as Barbara, Fiona Dourif as Wheeler, Dimple Kapadia as Priya, Wes Chatham as Sammy, Martin Donovan as Victor and Yuri Kolokolnikov as Quinton.

This was mesmerisingly written and directed by the incomparable Christopher Nolan ("Following" '98, "Memento" 2000, "Insomnia" '02, "Batman Begins" '05, "The Prestige" '06, "The Dark Knight" '08, "Inception" '10, "The Dark Knight Rises" '12, "Interstellar" '14, "Dunkirk" '17) plus shorts and a video. One has to have a tremendous amount of respect for this filmmaker considering his incredible talent of not only writing but helming a production as well. Also this filmmaker is one of a few who opted to wait for the theaters to open instead of selling the film to Netflix, streaming or putting it up on VOD--he is a purist who truly believes that films are meant to be shown on the large screen. His direction of this was crisp, tight and simply kept the audience riveted to the screen. He definitely has a distinct style to helming a picture which is evident in other productions, i.e. "Memento" 2000, "Inception" '10 and "Interstellar" '14. The plot and the process he used to convey the storyline is a bit cerebral so it can seem confusing to some, but I believe this is Nolan's style--hence the other aforementioned films. This film is true artistry, in the writing, directing and the sond mixing by sound veteran, Willie D. Burton. The sound mixing was haunting and enhanced the feel of the film hands down. Nolan and Burton could be considered for Oscar nominations. It will be interesting to see what Nolan does with his remake of "Memento" which has been announced.

Of all the films that filmgoers would see coming up, this film must be seen on the large screen, otherwise it will be lost on 50 incher. In fact, I was thinking about seeing it in IMAX, however that would've been a 35 minute trek for me, and since this is the first film out, I thought that seeing it on a large screen would suffice and it did. In retrospect, this film would be killer in the IMAX format it's being offered in as well. 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                               Rated: PG-13                                      150mins.