Review of Tenet (2020) by Watermarkshaun — 06 Sep 2020

Very much a Nolan film. Spent the extra money and saw in in IMAX. Beautifully filmed - as is expected with any Nolan picture, and well acted. The story for me was actually somewhat predictable (not too difficult once you watch a bunch of his films and get into the groove of his style). Not that that is bad; if you liked Inception and Intersteller, chances are you'll like this too.

So why the low grade of only a 6? If I was WB and gave up 205 million for this to be made, and then screened the film and noticed that literally half the dialog was muddled to obscurity, I'd demand he either remix it, or return some money. I had the same complaint with Interstellar (although only in certain parts of the film when the droning sound overloaded any intelligent levels for dialog comprehension). It wasn't the physical theaters fault (Interstellar was at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood, and everyone around me had the same reaction). It's as if it's almost a tactic; "maybe if people don't understand the dialog they will see it multiple times so they can finally get it". I've seriously heard better dialog audio in student films. I would be embarrassed to put my name on this film if I were on the sound mixing team.

So there you have it. Without good audio, it doesn't matter how many millions you spend on something.

Finally, last point is, the character development was two-dimensional and flat. I actually cared more about Branagh's character than all the others (and he's the villain). The female lead came off very one-note as a "generic mother role". Her response to "the world (could) end..." is "oh, my son!". Really? Anyway, it was a ride indeed, and not the worst film out there, but the film never lived up to the extended trailer that I saw what seems like an eternity ago.