Tenet

I’m not the man they send to negotiate. Or the man they send to make deals. But I am the man people talk to. An absolute beauty of an enigma to have watched in 70mm film, the colours seem to be more vibrant and brighter in this format. The combination of a complex story which runs both forwards and backwards in temporal space while having well choreographed action sequences and James Bond like influence with the importance of the mission and a Bond girl like female to rescue is simply ingenious and so enticing. The cinematography, action and dialogue was also a lot like a James Bond film. The pure complexity of the plot due to its relation with time, while also exploring what it would mean in terms of physics if one were to really travel deeper into the past consciously, whether it is the reverse direction of entropy and the inverted visual and lived experience of being in the past, is well informed and quite amazing to see in film. The way that the story referred to parts of itself constantly is just yet another hallmark of great writing from Nolan. The cast was well casted and did a sublime acting job. John David Washington as the protagonist really bore the hallmarks of a hardened James Bond with wit. Elizabeth Debicki as Kat, a mother placed in a difficult predicament where the determination and motherly instinct very present. Robert Pattinson as Neil successfully encapsulated a mysterious demeanour due to foreknowledge. Kenneth Branagh as Andrei Sator as the ruthless egomaniacal arms dealer was on point. It was also interesting to see the seeds of Oppenheimer in this film. An overall masterpiece of a film in my opinion, my first Nolan and still one of my favourites, a combination of complex time manipulation and the spy genre is always a good time.