The latest epic from Christopher Nolan is finally available to watch in various countries around the world, and Tenet is a film that is undoubtedly enthralling and entertaining, as well as one that is hard to comprehend, impossible in only one viewing. Many fans believed this would be Nolan’s biggest and best since his arguable masterpiece, 2010’s Inception.
The movie has proved to be divisive in many aspects thus far, and overall, is not receiving the same love as Inception has accumulated over the years. Nevertheless, despite Inception’s undoubted brilliance, there are ways in which Tenet proves itself on par, or even better.
Inception – The Parent/Child Subplot
One commonality between Tenet and Inception is that there is a subplot involving a parent wanting to get back to an everyday life with their child/children, Cobb with his children in America, and Kat with her son, who is used by Sater to keep her trapped.
In Inception, this gets done far better. Debicki’s character can get a little one-note when it comes to her son, and the emotional core is not there for audiences to resonate with hugely. In Inception, the subplot unfolds piece by piece, and fans get time to get emotionally involved.
Tenet – Manipulation Of Time
Christopher Nolan has an obsession with time and how its manipulation can get used to construe the narrative structure in filmmaking, altering the audience’s experiences and perception.
In Tenet, Nolan manipulates time far more ambitiously, and it seems to pay off. Inception‘s time manipulation is perhaps the most straightforward part about it; it slows down the further into a dream you go. Inception’s time aspect may be more to some people’s liking, but Tenet’s time manipulation is so bold, unique, and fascinating, as well as well-executed, that one cannot help but applaud its efforts.
Inception – Rules
Tenet moves at such a breakneck speed and is such a sensory onslaught that audiences do not have an easy time when it comes to an understanding and following what is going on in regards to the plot and the time inversion.
Ultimately, there are not many real rules stated in regards to how time inversion works, and that falls into Inceptions favor since the movie spends a good chunk explaining the rules. These rules help almost ground the film, allowing it to be easier understood and more quickly appreciated for the brilliance on screen.
Tenet – Villain & Stakes
Inception does not have a real antagonist, Mal and time are both villains in their own way, but there is no typical hero/villain dynamic in the story; meanwhile, Tenet has an established antagonist in Andrei Sator.
In terms of the stakes, they are two very different types of stakes between the films. In Inception, the stakes are two-fold, the lives of the crew and Cobb getting back to his children. In Tenet, the stakes are the lives of everybody on the planet and combine that with Branagh’s Sater and his psychopathic plot, Tenet wins out.
Inception – Emotional Investment
Undoubtedly the most significant issue with Nolan’s latest movie is the lack of an emotional epicenter, the closest thing the film has to draw audiences in is Debicki’s character, and even her intended emotional moments feel undeserved.
As has gotten mentioned before, Inception works in this regard. With Cobb’s goals and the unfolding nature of that narrative, as well as the conflict throughout, fans get invested in the characters, and there is an emotional payoff. We care in Inception, not so much in Tenet.
Inception – Wrapping Up
The ending of Tenet is quite great, with the entire final race against time and reveals. However, the movie still lacks a full tying up of the narrative and the concepts explored in a neat, concise manner.
Inception, however, does seem to do this. While the ending of the movie is left ambiguous in terms of is it real or is it a dream, the message and intention are clear, and the whole story that did happen within the dream layers gets wrapped up nicely, with the film acting as one complete narrative.
Tenet – Thought Provocation
Tenet moves at a million miles a minute and can get incredibly overwhelming through the series of visuals, the slew of information, and the overload of sound. Nevertheless, with every passing second, it makes you think more and more.
Every scene seems to present us with something to ponder over. Audiences are never let in entirely to what is going; even after the ending and the reveals that come with it, everything is hard to piece together. Inception’s final shot leaves the movie with fans for weeks, but pretty much all of Tenet does this, and if that is something one likes with their cinematic experience, Tenet wins in that regard.
Inception – Accessibility
A lot of people unfairly criticize Nolan’s use of exposition, but a lot of the time, it is necessary, while in a film like Interstellar, it goes a little too far with the handholding, Inception handles it reasonably well.
The explanations and breakdowns of the rules by Cobb and the crew help the audiences get invested, help them understand. Inception is a film popular in a wide audience, and its accessibility is a good reason why, and it is far more accessible than Tenet.
Tenet – Handholding
On the other side of that argument, though, Tenet is an insanely complicated movie to follow clearly, and Nolan does not treat the audience like idiots; he brings them on the journey with him and the Protagonist.
Tenet does a lot of explaining, but audiences learn what the Protagonist is learning just the same. The first-hour of the movie has the audience playing catchup, and Nolan does not stop to take a break to explain everything that has happened unnecessarily. Instead, he marches on with the story, giving us information as it is needed, allowing us to think about the mystery before the reveals, and even then, there is a lot to think about.
Inception – Character Work
The characters of Tenet are a couple of cool, well-performed individuals, but can often be one dimensional, and there is a severe lack of exploration into them.
In Inception, however, while many characters can still be one dimensional, we get more out of them. Cobb, Mal, Fischer, and even the likes of Arthur, Eames, and Ariadne – to a much lesser extent – all get layers and some exploration to get us invested in them, to make us feel for them, something Tenet so often fails to do, which will hurt the movie for a lot of people.
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