CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If you googled “is Tenet worth the risk of getting coronavirus?” and ended up here, well, I guess that mandatory search engine optimization training paid off. But this isn’t that post.
Instead, I’m going to describe my experience returning to a movie theater for the first time in nearly six months ago so you know what to expect. I’ll share a few thoughts on “Tenet,” too.
Buying the ticket
Theater chains are recommending, if not requiring, moviegoers purchase tickets online in advance. Not only does it limit contact with a theater employee, but it also allows them to restrict capacity and make sure people are seated at a safe social distance from each other.
When I logged into the AMC Theatres app to purchase a ticket for “Tenet,” I was greeted with a message noting auditoriums are only being filled at 40% capacity or less. Whew! AMC says groups should book their tickets together because the system will automatically leave one seat empty on both sides of every party.
Also, if you’re a member of a theater loyalty program, make sure you use it. I’m a member of AMC’s Stubs and was surprised to notice it was loaded with unearned Bonus Bucks, which covered the cost of the ticket. Before checking out, the app will ask if you want to preorder food, offered at special $5 welcome back pricing, allowing you to avoid another unnecessary encounter with a staffer.
At the theater
I go to the movies a lot, so returning to the theater almost felt like going home. But there were noticeable differences: social distancing decals on the floor, the ticket-taker behind a plexiglass booth and a sign in the bathroom recommending I sing “Happy Birthday” twice while washing my hands.
AMC has also spent millions in purchasing electrostatic sprayers, HEPA filter vacuum cleaners and MERV 13 air ventilation filters. Once inside, I was relieved to notice everybody already seated was wearing a mask properly above their noses. There were about 12-15 people by the time the trailers started. My row was completely empty, but I felt a little skittish about being too close to the people sitting behind me, one of whom was incessantly munching on popcorn as if he couldn’t have popped a bag of Orville Redenbacher in the microwave this whole time.
I felt better when a message played on the screen reminding audience members that masks are required at all times except when eating or drinking. The mask seemed unnatural and uncomfortable at first, but once the lights went out and the movie started, I barely noticed it was there.
This is “Tenet”
Studios like Disney and Universal moved their big releases to streaming or delayed them, but director Christopher Nolan (”Memento,” “The Dark Knight”) was adamant about premiering “Tenet” in movie theaters. The thinking was the film is this big and awesome spectacle that only seeing it in a theater could do it justice-- the perfect vehicle to prove the moviegoing experience isn’t dying, but something unique and special.
In that sense, Nolan and Warner Bros. were spot on. The film opens with an IMAX-worthy scene at an opera house in Russia, where the Protagonist, played by the ultra cool John David Washington (”BlacKkKlansman”), is tasked with extracting an asset from a terrorist attack. The opening is exhilarating, featuring breathless action and a bombastic score. In fact, the sound in this movie is so loud, it often drowns out the dialogue. This is the one time I wish I was at home, near the remote and subtitles button.
Somehow, the Protagonist, the only name he’s ever given in the movie, escapes and learns about his new mission, something called Tenet. Bad people from the future, it seems, have found a way to invert time and are planning to use that knowledge to detonate a nuclear device that will annihilate the world.
“Don’t try to understand it. Feel it,” a scientist explains to the Protagonist.
Right. But I’m going to need Doc Brown to get his chalkboard out and explain this to me.
From there, the Protagonist teams up with a partner named Neil, a charming Robert Pattinson, in search of an arms dealer called Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh) with more answers. But to get close to him, they first have to gain the trust of his unhappy wife Kat, played by Elizabeth Debicki.
“Tenet” is billed as an espionage thriller, but it evolves into a heist film-- twice. The exact reasons why the Protagonist and Neil need to crash a plane to steal a piece of art or stage a high-speed chase to snatch a case of plutonium, all while battling mysterious foes who appear to be from the future (or the past?), aren’t clear or logical, but the thrill ride is classic Christopher Nolan.
Speaking of classic Nolan, the latter half of “Tenet” makes “Inception” feel like a children’s story. The film is magnificently and perhaps quite purposefully confusing as the concept of time inversion takes over. Characters travel through time literally through a revolving door, taking them to earlier parts of the movie “Back To The Future Part II”-style. Finally, Sator’s intentions are revealed, and the Protagonist, Neil and Kat come up with a daring plan to stop him. Again, don’t try to understand it-- that “Tenet ending explained” post will be there when the lights go up. Feel it and you’ll be reminded why you go to the movies.
• Where to watch ‘Tenet’: Movie theater guidelines, streaming options, Rotten Tomatoes score
Worth it?
Turns out, this is that post. If you miss the cinematic experience, yes, “Tenet” is everything it’s been hyped up to be. But no movie is worth getting sick over. In my case, everyone wore masks and kept their distance, and I felt safe. So, weigh the risks, see what your theater is doing to protect its customers and make the decision that’s right for you.
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September 02, 2020 at 10:01PM
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