Action-Adventure TENET

[BatLobster]

he’s the bestest spy who will ever spy but also is an idiot. It depends on the plot at the moments. That’s the hallmark of a bad character. When you are whatever depending on plot.

Eh. He's an audience surrogate-type of character. I never once thought he was supposed to James Bond. He's got the heart of an everyman who wants to do good in a very intense profession where he is in way over his head on this mission. It was a refreshing change of pace from the usual spy tropes. He didn't always have it all figured out, but he was always willing to learn, adapt and had no quit in him. And we see right from the beginning that he genuinely cared about saving lives, even if it's not mission critical. Made him very easy to root for. And there's a nice transformation there where by the very end, he's become more of the full-on badass that you'd expect in a spy movie. Nice bit of takeaway about manifesting your own destiny.

Yeah the paper thin character complaint is sounding a bit overstated these last few pages. The characters in Inception weren't ocean deep, and thin characters didn't stop a movie like Saving Private Ryan from being a great film. I think we'd be criticizing Tenet more if JDW had a wife he was trying to get back to, lol.

Fully agreed. Honestly, I think a lot of people refer to "character" in films without necessarily being clear on what they're referring to. Is it backstory/ exposition? Is it personality quirks with a unique performance that stands out? Those things are great to have a lot of the time, but in the purest of movie terms, characters are defined by their actions. I completely understood who JDW was in this film and why he was a different sort of spy, even without knowing his friggin' name. Now that's character.

That said, I understand if this approach doesn't work for anyone or if they didn't enjoy JDW. I personally found him the right amount of understated, and thought it gave Pattinson room to shine as a the more debonair of the two. Really though I think the heart of the movie is the two of them and their bromance, rather than either of them individually. That comes into focus once you have the full scope of what's actually going on.

 

[TheVileOne]

he’s the bestest spy who will ever spy but also is an idiot. It depends on the plot at the moments. That’s the hallmark of a bad character. When you are whatever depending on plot.

I thought he was OK. I found his performance a bit listless at times. I think he had good rapport with Neil at least. But part of the problem was the awful sound mix and it hurt me actually being able to emotionally resonate with the characters.

 

[Detective Conan]

 

[Eddie Dean]

I thought he was OK. I found his performance a bit listless at times. I think he had good rapport with Neil at least. But part of the problem was the awful sound mix and it hurt me actually being able to emotionally resonate with the characters.

It's a situation where I'm not sure if it's him or the material. Does his delivery of the quips fall flat because he can't pull it off or is it because Nolan doesn't know how to deploy them? Nolan's got a big of Lucas Leg with humor, it takes someone special like Michael Caine to make it work.

 

[TheVileOne]

You can always open your own theater chain Nolan.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

I thought Tenet was actually kind of (intentionally!) hilarious in a super dry, classic Bondian way. Washington and Pattinson's enormous charisma brought their somewhat anonymous characters to life pretty vividly, despite knowing next to nothing personal about them I felt far more invested in those two than the leads in just about any other big Hollywood movie of late.

 

[KaijuDude1992]

Call me crazy, but I also didn't mind the fact that we didn't get a whole lot of depth or characterization for Washington or Pattinson's characters. Now, I understand why that approach might not have worked for some, but I thought both of them came off likable enough, especially Pattinson who displayed a ton of charisma and charm in this movie IMO as well as Washington who definitely got his moments to shine here and there.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

Call me crazy, but I also didn't mind the fact that we didn't get a whole lot of depth or characterization for Washington or Pattinson's characters. Now, I understand why that approach might not have worked for some, but I thought both of them came off likable enough, especially Pattinson who displayed a ton of charisma and charm in this movie IMO as well as Washington who definitely got his moments to shine here and there.

Yep. I can see why it doesn't work for everyone but there was something appealing and fitting about their anonymity. They didn't seem like ciphers to me, I got a good read on their personalities, we just only know them in their professional capacity. Felt fitting for a spy film.

 

[Filmfan93]

Call me crazy, but I also didn't mind the fact that we didn't get a whole lot of depth or characterization for Washington or Pattinson's characters. Now, I understand why that approach might not have worked for some, but I thought both of them came off likable enough, especially Pattinson who displayed a ton of charisma and charm in this movie IMO as well as Washington who definitely got his moments to shine here and there.

Yep - they didn't really need further characterization.

They were spies and as such - the less you know about them, the better their character works.

 

[BatLobster]

So with all the Nolan/WB drama going on with the HBO Max thing, I can't help but wonder if Tenet will be his last collaboration with the studio. It's very unusual for him to come out guns blazing like that, so you can tell this must've really touched a nerve with him.

"I think this is the end of a beautiful friendship."

 

[SwordOfMorning]

Could be. Just about any studio would probably give Nolan whatever deal he wanted.

 

[Prison Mike]

Imagine if he goes to Disney and gives us a Marvel movie

 

[SwordOfMorning]

Lowkey actually think Nolan would make a lovely family film. Especially working with his brother whose screenplays tend to be more overtly emotional and warm than Nolan’s solo writing.

 

[BatLobster]

Lowkey actually think Nolan would make a lovely family film. Especially working with his brother whose screenplays tend to be more overtly emotional and warm than Nolan’s solo writing.

He already made one.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

He already made one.

Begins TV spots are a goddamn goldmine.

 

[Prison Mike]

Oh man...thanks for laughs

 

[Detective Conan]

 

[TheVileOne]

Tenet was caught up in the mess of this pandemic no matter what he says.

I mean I'd personally be fine if studios just made a decision that they won't release these big films until this whole mess is done, but it's not my money and not my call.

 

[Mysteryman]

IF Tenet had not failed, WB wouldn't feel the need to stream their 2021 slate.

 

[TheVileOne]

I thought Pattinson was the best and most interesting character in this film. The problem is I couldn't make out what he was saying half the time. He had kind of like a charming, aristocratic roguish quality. Like an uppercrust, white-collar silver spoon Brit, but a likable one.

EDIT:

I thought Elizabeth Debicki was good as well and had the most complete emotional arc in the film. At least from what I could ****ing tell from the terrible sound mix. On a visual level, I was able to emotionally connect with her character and the struggle and anguish she was going through.

 

[shauner111]

It's a situation where I'm not sure if it's him or the material. Does his delivery of the quips fall flat because he can't pull it off or is it because Nolan doesn't know how to deploy them? Nolan's got a big of Lucas Leg with humor, it takes someone special like Michael Caine to make it work.

The hot sauce quip delivery is already classic to me. Loved the other ones too about his balls lol.

 

[shauner111]

I feel like Eames and Neil would be buddies.

 

[OutOfBoose]

Begins TV spots are a goddamn goldmine.

Wow, lmao. Different time.

 

[Schlosser85]

I feel like Eames and Neil would be buddies.

Either buddies or hate each other.

 

[BatLobster]

Nolan made another appearance on the Happy Sad Confused Podcast. He was a good rapport with Josh, always a solid listen. Talks a little about the state of the industry at the end:

Happy Sad Confused - Podcast | Global Player