The reviews for Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” are in and movie critics have mixed opinions about the spy flick.

The movie stars John David Washington, playing a character simply named The Protagonist, who takes a deep dive into the world of international espionage to carry out a mission.

To date, the movie has an 88% fresh critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While some critics are grateful for the release of the highly anticipated sci-fi film following several delays, others have criticized “Tenet” for its plot that they claim fails to capture an audience.

Variety - Guy Lodge

“A concrete cornucopia of global chaos and threat, in which humanity’s survival depends on the minor matter of reshaping time and space, ‘Tenet’ looks well suited to an anxious age.”

The Hollywood Reporter - Leslie Felperin

“Altogether, it makes for a chilly, cerebral film - easy to admire, especially since it’s so rich in audacity and originality, but almost impossible to love, lacking as it is in a certain humanity.”

Felperin added of the plot, “I watched the movie twice for this review, and still feel very confused about what is supposed to be going on and why. Even more baffling than the why is the how, the fictional physics of inversion. All those outfits that make YouTube videos about movie plot holes and cinematic inconsistencies are going to implode with joy when they get a load of this.”

Los Angeles Times - Jonathan Romney

“Nolan’s latest may well be full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, or it may signify something imponderably resonant, and signify it forward, backward and inside out. Does your head hurt yet?”

London Evening Standard - Charlotte O’Sullivan

“To point out that 'Tenet' has flaws feels ungrateful. It’s like slagging off Santa. But, I confess, some of the yick yacking - vis a vis physics, metaphysics and so on - made me sleepy... Those quibbles aside, 'Tenet' is an eye-popping, ground-breaking blast.”

Financial Times - Danny Leigh

“Great movies always time travel - living with you beyond the closing credits, carried into the future. With 'Tenet,' 150 minutes pass harmlessly, but the film left my head before I took off my face mask.”

The New York Times - Jessica Kiang

Calling the plot “contorted,” Kiang said of the film as a whole, “Seek it out, if only to marvel at the entertainingly inane glory of what we once had and are in danger of never having again.”

The Globe and Mail - Barry Hertz

“We’re never meant to know what exactly is going on at any one moment, but we will be - we must be - entertained by the overwhelming nonsense of it all.”

“Tenet” is expected to be released internationally on Aug. 26. However, moviegoers in the U.S. will have to wait until Sept. 3 to see the film.

RELATED STORIES
Coronavirus