Tenetmight not have released in most parts of the world yet, but the Christopher Nolan-helmed movie is already being touted as the greatest action film ever made by a guy who knows a thing or two about cinema, veteran actor Michael Caine, who took to Twitter to lavish praise on the movie and its director.
“Chris Nolan has done it again. Tenet is the best action film ever.”
Of course,Michael Cainemight be said to be biased, considering he is in the film. But then, he was also a part of Nolan’sDunkirk, and that did not stop Caine from calling1917one of the best war films of all time instead. The actor has appeared in every Nolan film sinceBatman Begins, to the extent that some see him as the filmmaker’s lucky mascot, and his charm seems to have worked forTenetas well.
Caine’s sentiments are in line with the rest of the cast ofTenet, who have, in the months leading up to the movie’s release, repeatedlypraised the scriptand Nolan’s daring for envisioning a new kind of action-adventure epic.
Early Tenet reviewsfrom well-known critics have also praised the scope of the action inTenet, but criticized the film for a crucial and often most derided part of a Christopher Nolan movie: large tracts of clunky dialogues where actors turn into exposition machines for the sake of the audience and making viewers understand what is going on with the plot.
From the descriptions forTenetthat have been made available so far, the movie seems to have both a large number of exposition dumps, as well as the kind ofmind-bending premisethat would allow for exceptional action scenes.
At the core ofTenetis the premise of ‘time inversion’, which is a type of retrocausality that allows for cause and effect to take place in reverse. Nolan has taken this scientific field of study and used it to showcase action scenes happening in reverse, where bullets jump back into the barrel of guns, cars upend in the middle of the road before magically righting themselves, and characters fall and get right back on their feet as though made of spring.
Time will tell if critics and general audiences will agree with Caine’s assessment thatTenetis the best action film ever made. For now, the team behind the movie is simply hoping for a healthy box-office run that will allow the producers to recoup their investment, and bring much-needed business to struggling theater chains.
Written and directed by Christopher Nolan,Tenetfeatures a distinguished lead cast comprising of actors from film industries the world over, including John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branaugh, Dimple Kapadia, Martin Donovan, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Himesh Patel, Clémence Poésy, Denzil Smith and Michael Caine. The film opens in theaters overseas on Aug. 26. and arrives in select U.S. cities Sept. 3. Early access screenings will also be held at IMAX theaters starting from Aug. 31.
