Christopher Nolan is one of the select few filmmakers working today who has drawing power based on his name, perhaps alongside Tenet, the film that promises to show the value of cinema in these trying times.
The movie may not be perfect, but it is enthralling, moving at a breakneck pace with action to the brim, and fascinating concepts giving way for a fantastic, highly entertaining movie with some standout scenes.
Sir Michael Crosby
The legendary Michael Caine continued his streak of appearances in Christopher Nolan films with his eighth appearance in a row - every Nolan movie since Dunkirk with a voice cameo - coming in Tenet.
It is his smallest role except for Dunkirk, but it is a great singular scene he is in as British intelligence officer Sir Michael Crosby. It is the funniest scene in the movie and a charming one where both John David Washington and Michael Caine ooze charisma, and while not massively influential, is certainly memorable.
Sator & Kat In Vietnam
This scene intercuts with the epic climax of the film and sees Kat attempting to stop Sater from triggering the dead man's switch until the Protagonist, Ives, and Neil turn off the algorithm.
It is not the most remarkable scene in the movie, with the scene it intercuts with being far better, but both Debicki and Branagh are solid as the tension builds to Sater's death. There is a momentary lapse of breath when Kat shoots and kills Sater prematurely, but luckily the heroes did their job on time. It is a simple sequence, but an important one.
Breaking Into Priya's
This film draws from Nolan's well-known love for the spy/thriller genre, and few scenes exemplify the espionage nature of Tenet than this one, which sees Neil and the Protagonist infiltrate the heavily guarded home of an arms dealer.
This scene is excellent and memorable for many reasons; for one, it is in most of the promotional material, simple as that. But on top of that, it is very smartly done with the reveal of Priya being the real mastermind and how the Protagonist and Neil both get into and escape the building both being highlights.
The Opera Opening
Nolan has a serious talent for constructing a genius opening scene. Inception, and now Tenet all have thrilling openings.
This opera scene is full of tension, fantastic music from Ludwig Görranson, and exciting action. The much later reveal of Neil being the mysterious soldier who saved the Protagonist, and the subsequent death of the Protagonist after this scene only serves to improve its meaning and importance.
Captured By Sater, A Look At The Turnstile
Perhaps the turning point of the story is the scene in which the time inversion aspect of the film becomes most clear, and that is when Sater captures the Protagonist and Sater, and the audience witnesses the turnstile.
With the turnstile being the portal between the forward and backward timelines, the Protagonist watches Sater shoot Kat with an inverted bullet as well as revealing to him where the piece of the algorithm is. After Sater leaves, Neil and Tenet's military forces save the Protagonist, and it gets revealed Neil was a part of this all along, and we find out more about both Tenet and time inversion. It is a fascinating, confusing, gorgeous looking scene which precludes the soon-to-come inverted scenes.
The Plane Crash
The plane crash is pretty much everywhere in Tenet's promotional material and showed to film fans everywhere the sheer scale and spectacle Nolan was going for with this film.
Watching the trailer hurts the in-theatre experience of the crash, which gets used to trigger the airport security while Neil and the Protagonist infiltrate the airport. It is still incredible to watch but is perhaps more spectacle for spectacle's sake, which is an issue. Nevertheless, there is no doubt the remarkable feat and stunning visuals will get ed for a long time.
Infiltrating The Airport & Hallway Fight
Speaking of the airport infiltration, that scene that accompanies the plane crash is pretty incredible. It sees Neil and the Protagonist looking for a painting of Sater's to steal it but leads to much more.
The scene sees the two encounter a turnstile in which it seems two men emerge, later revealed to be just one man going both backward and forwards in time. The fight between the Protagonist against the masked man and the chase between Neil and the same masked man moving forward is fantastic, especially when you know it is all practical and done by John David Washington himself. Even if the fight gets ignored, the tension within the scene, as well as the espionage aspects and sophistication of the Protagonist and Neil shine.
Those Two Events Inverted
More memorable than both of those things, though, are those two things inverted. This comes when the Protagonist and Neil try and save Kat's life by staying inverted, and go back to infiltrate the airport once again.
This whole sequence is incredible. In the same shot, some people are moving forwards and some backward on screen, and we see the hallway fight from the point of view of the masked man, a.k.a the Protagonist from the future, where it gets revealed why Neil stopped the Protagonist killing him earlier. The whole thing is incredibly impressive.
The Temporal Pincer Movement & Climax
The climactic events of the movie sees Tenet forces perform a temporal pincer movement - wherein half the troops move forward in time, half backward - in an abandoned soviet town to retrieve and unarm the algorithm.
This entire climax has some insane shots and tension, with nonstop action, an overwhelmingly powerful score, and is just brilliantly crafted. It can get confusing and is hard to follow, but it is damn entertaining, and the final conversation with the Protagonist, Neil, and Ives is great, making you want to see a sequel.
The Highway Chase & esahC yawhgiH ehT
The entire sequence of the Protagonist and Neil stealing a part of the algorithm, and the subsequent highway chase, along with the inverted version of these events is the pinnacle of what this film has to offer.
The stealing of the algorithm - which initially is thought to be plutonium - is very well done, and the chase where Sater comes after the two heroes is thrilling. This and the inverted version of this bookend the reveal of the turnstile's abilities, and when the inverted Protagonist goes after Sater, both sequences are made even more exceptional and mind-blowing as well as suspenseful when you think the Protagonist has gotten killed.
