The first Tenet reviews have arrived. The world has been waiting for the latest Christopher Nolan project for months now. The public health crisis kept pushing the movie back, which was supposed to open in July. Nolan and Warner Bros. had hoped that it would be the movie to get people into theaters this summer to salvage some of the 2020 summer season. Obviously, that was not able to happen and the studio decided on a worldwide staggered release approach. There are no spoilers for Tenet below.
With the staggered release of Tenet on the way, some Christopher Nolan fans are going to be able to see the movie before others. And some aren't going to be able to see it in a movie theater at all, so it's a very different landscape from what we're all used to. With that said, it looks like, for the most part, Tenet may have been worth all of the release date shifts. Variety's Guy Lodge had this to say about Nolan's latest.
"The sheer meticulousness of Nolan's grand-canvas action aesthetic is enthralling, as if to compensate for the stray loose threads and teasing paradoxes of his screenplay - or perhaps simply to underline that they don't matter all that much. Tenet is no holy grail, but for all its stern, solemn posing, it's dizzy, expensive, bang-up entertainment of both the old and new school. Right now, as it belatedly crashes a dormant global release calendar, it seems something of a time inversion in itself."
As is the case with a lot of Christopher Nolan movies, Tenet sounds like it will leave some viewers wondering what they just watched on the way out of the theater. This is a selling point for fans of the director and ammunition for critics who aren't into Nolan's style. With that being said, it also sounds like fans are going to enjoy Tenet. Empire's Alex Godfrey explains.
"Tenet once again proves Nolan's undying commitment to big-screen thrills and spills. There's a lot riding on this film, to resurrect cinema, to wrench people away from their televisions, facemasks and all. It may well do the trick: if you're after a big old explosive Nolan braingasm, that is exactly what you're going to get, shot on old-fashioned film too (as the end credits proudly state). By the time it's done, you might not know what the hell's gone on, but it is exciting, nevertheless. It is ferociously entertaining."
Not everybody enjoyed Christopher Nolan's latest big screen offering. One reviewer says that the riddles fall flat and cloud the rest of Tenet's storyline. "Any awe is flattened by follow-up questions," says one critic. You can read what Catherine Shoard from The Guardian had to say about the movie below.
"You exit the cinema a little less energized than you were going in. There's something grating about a film which insists on detailing its pseudo-science while also conceding you probably won't have followed a thing. We're clobbered with plot then comforted with tea-towel homilies about how what's happened has happened. The world is more than ready for a fabulous blockbuster, especially one that happens to feature face masks and chat about going back in time to avoid catastrophe. It's a real shame Tenet isn't it."
As with all Christopher Nolan movies, Tenet seems like it will work best for viewers who are fans of the director's earlier works. Specifically, Inception and Interstellar. This has already been teased numerous times, almost since the title of the movie was revealed, so it will be up to audiences who are lucky enough to visit a movie theater in the coming weeks to form their own opinions. It is now time to start running from the impending spoiler avalanche. You can prepare yourself for the experience over at the official Tenet website.