[Spoilers] T E N E T

[Kasimir he/him]

Saw yesterday. What. A ride.

I feel this is a movie which is best understood in at least three or four viewings, or failing which, one is better served going in thoroughly spoiled. Things that stood out for me:

1. Trying to make sense of the plot is actually giving me more of a nightmare than Dark. I think it's because inversion isn't exactly like time travel and trying to make sense of what it's like for time to be reversed for people - let alone the notion of temporal pincer movements - is especially, especially hard.

2. Standout performances from the cast IMO. Branagh is a very chilling Sator, JDW is a superb protagonist and I have no idea how he did so many stunts. Before Tenet, my main mental associations with Robert Pattinson were: Cedric Diggory, Edward Cullen, and naughty mermaid dude from the Lighthouse, so I'm pretty impressed at how he inhabited Neil and wiped that all away in my head. Debicki is just fantastic as Kat, and I love her. All hail Michael Caine again  

3. I need an entire point dedicated to the tragedy of The Protagonist's and Neil's inverted friendship. The moment we saw that red string/token tied to Neil's backpack was chilling for me. 

4. Theatrical indeed. Effects were superb. All respect to Pattinson for having to drive down that highway for reals. I miss Han Zimmer, but Göransson is a god.

5. Honestly, I'd rate this under Inception, and I see why the comparisons to Inception would come about. I'd say that Inception is to heist films as Tenet is to spy/Bond films. But Inception has the advantage of a more immediately accessible plot. I think half the problem for Tenet is it takes you a while to get invested and to get into the film. I think the experience would be different going in a second time, especially to catch the loops and the clues. Nolan is a fair director, after all. 

6. Whatever happens, happens. Except in past tense. Neil is apparently a past Spike Spiegel.

Spoiler

Pandemic cinema is an interesting experience, but our cases have been low and I was in a really empty cinema with social distancing out the wazoo and masks. IDK if I'd have gone otherwise, even if it's Nolan.

[Truthless of Shinovar he/him]

Wow. Words cannot describe how in awe and utterly confused I am about this movie. I kinda get it, but actually don’t. Most of the things are subtle, I think, so I definitely need to watch it again to get... it. All of it. 

Props to Nolan. That was incredible.

[Kasimir he/him]

6 hours ago, Truthless of Shinovar said:

Wow. Words cannot describe how in awe and utterly confused I am about this movie. I kinda get it, but actually don’t. Most of the things are subtle, I think, so I definitely need to watch it again to get... it. All of it. 

Props to Nolan. That was incredible.

Yeah I'd definitely say it needs multiple viewings. Was a bloody good ride though. Glad to see someone else enjoyed it! 

[BreezeCauthon he/him]

I went and saw it the other day. Absolutely unrelenting thrills. Pretty awesome. I prefer Inception and Interstellar, but those are my all-time favorite movies (along with the LOTR trilogy), so that doesn't mean much. Pretty hard to pick between it and Dunkirk. 

Also, it was utterly mind-boggling. I really need to watch it again.

I'd love to see a theory as to how it connects to Inception, 'cause didn't JDW say it sorta did?

Edited September 7, 2020 by BreezeCauthon

[dannnex male]

I just quickly skimmed this thread, and I haven’t seen this movie, but if you guys are comparing it to Inception and Interstellar, it’s gotta be good, right? I guess I’ll check it out. 

[Truthless of Shinovar he/him]

3 hours ago, Danex said:

I just quickly skimmed this thread, and I haven’t seen this movie, but if you guys are comparing it to Inception and Interstellar, it’s gotta be good, right? I guess I’ll check it out. 

Personally, I think I liked it better, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen either of those movies

[Kasimir he/him]

On 9/8/2020 at 8:01 AM, Danex said:

I just quickly skimmed this thread, and I haven’t seen this movie, but if you guys are comparing it to Inception and Interstellar, it’s gotta be good, right? I guess I’ll check it out. 

I'm opposite of Truthless: I liked Inception better but Tenet is definitely worth a watch if you can do so safely. 

On 9/8/2020 at 5:37 AM, BreezeCauthon said:

I went and saw it the other day. Absolutely unrelenting thrills. Pretty awesome. I prefer Inception and Interstellar, but those are my all-time favorite movies (along with the LOTR trilogy), so that doesn't mean much. Pretty hard to pick between it and Dunkirk. 

Also, it was utterly mind-boggling. I really need to watch it again.

I'd love to see a theory as to how it connects to Inception, 'cause didn't JDW say it sorta did?

Think he called them in-laws but what he meant by that is anyone's guess. I'm currently taking it to be a meta-point about what the films do to their original genres. 

The wackiest theory I' ve seen that try to connect them suggest that Neil is a grown up James Cobb. Or there's the theory that Neil is Sator's son grown up—which is apparently based off people going "Why would Nolan make Pattinson dye his hair."

I could see more of a connection because I can't imagine how PASIV technology wouldn't be used for espionage but other than that... 

[Cheat Commando he/him]

Just saw Tenet! Want to watch it again! I can't wait until it becomes available to purchase so I can watch, pause, and rewind (or, dare I say, invert?).

But something bugs me... When the Protagonist is inverted, fighting against his past, non-inverted self, why does he try pull the trigger on his gun? Was that an accident during their scuffle? Was he simply trying to maintain space-time continuity?

Edited September 13, 2020 by Cheat Commando
Added "saw"

[Truthless of Shinovar he/him]

48 minutes ago, Cheat Commando said:

Just saw Tenet! Want to watch it again! I can't wait until it becomes available to purchase so I can watch, pause, and rewind (or, dare I say, invert?).

But something bugs me... When the Protagonist is inverted, fighting against his past, non-inverted self, why does he try pull the trigger on his gun? Was that an accident during their scuffle? Was he simply trying to maintain space-time continuity?

I read this one article that theorized that it was because he was trying to empty the clip so that regular-time him couldn’t use it against inverted-time him

[Hen she/her]

Okay, I just saw it. AHHHHHHHHH it was so amazing!!!! I cant get over the casting. Literally every actor was perfect for their character in my opinion. I definitely need to see it again, but I feel like that's a given. I think I like it better then Inception or Interstellar. I'm going to be thinking about this movie for weeks. the coolest thing for me was:

Spoiler

Kat's son is hinted to be Neil!!!!!!!!!! WHATTTTTT 

There are a lot of things I don't understand (Obviously). The biggest thing though, is: why are inverted wounds so dangerous? 

Spoiler

More specifically, why was Kats shot wound so dangerous? Why did inverting her help?

 

[BreezeCauthon he/him]

8 hours ago, Hentient said:

There are a lot of things I don't understand (Obviously). The biggest thing though, is: why are inverted wounds so dangerous? 

  Reveal hidden contents

More specifically, why was Kats shot wound so dangerous? Why did inverting her help?

 

I'm pretty sure inverted bullets also give you radiation poisoning.