Tenet

“The Protagonist” (John David Washington), a CIA operative, is recruited by a mysterious organization. His assignment: prevent Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh), a boilerplate villain with psychic abilities, from starting the next world war. To combat this threat, “The Protagonist” soon figures out the art of “time inversion.” While the action (if you’re into that) is outstanding, the premise of the story is completely ridiculous/unbelievable, and much of the dialogue is corny/cringeworthy. Christopher Nolan has used supernatural and sci-fi elements in many of his films, but this one is so over-the-top that it’s almost a parody of itself. It reminds me of South Park’s parody of Inception, “Insheeption,” or at least that’s what I thought about most of the time while watching this. The movie is complicated and I can see many people feeling dumb for not “getting it” right away – it may take a second or multiple watches for some to “get.” But I’m afraid not many will want to see this movie multiple times ’cause the clichéd score/soundtrack is so loud that it’s migraine inducing. Christopher Nolan has set the bar so high that he has literally out “Nolaned” himself this time – louder, more confusing, and more drawn-out than ever! The much-talked-about Robert Pattinson and frequent Nolan collaborator Michael Caine co-star.

[PG-13]