"TENET" Review: The Rubik's Cube Of Movies

Have you ever wondered if a Rubik’s cube could be described as a movie? If you said yes, then I give you the equally perplexing and entertaining movie, TENET! Directed by Christopher Nolan, in his one of a kind, high quality, action-packed and gritty style! If you’ve experienced one of his prior films, (Dunkirk, Inception, The Dark Knight Trilogy, any one from his catalogue really) you can understand how watching a Nolan movie pulls you in immediately and keeps you feeling an ebb and flow of emotions. Honestly, the previews do this movie no justice.

The film starts with The Protagonist (John D. Washington) being selected for a mission that’s described as a job to prevent a Third World War. During this assignment he learns about inversion (a temporal anomaly which an event happens in reverse). For example, when he drops his gun in an inverse its actually him catching the gun. If that example left you perplexed, don’t worry, you’re in the right place. Throughout this assignment he meets Kat (Elizabeth Debicki), the wife of Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh) whom he must protect as she’s a key for saving the past from the future.

John D. Washington and Robert Pattinson’s characters have great chemistry, and their performances are ideal. Washington is a natural lead with Washington performing all his stunts. One of the flaws of the movie is that it was hard to hear some of the dialogue because of the fast-paced scenes and the music being overbearing at times. 

This movie continuously keeps you on a rollercoaster ride to figure out what’s going on. As soon as you think you know where the film is headed, it dips in another direction. The cinematography of Nolan’s constant collaborator, Hoyte Van Hoytema, and production in this movie were top tier as expected. I predict a few Oscar nods. This is a well-crafted story that may take a couple of views to fully understand what you’ve seen. The IMAX experience is necessary for this film so I’d recommend seeing in theaters if you can or are willing to go in person (practice social distancing). When you walk out of the theater, you’ll feel as accomplished as if you finished a Rubik’s cube…or at least one side.

Rating: B+

Sonic The Hedgehog: Didn't Disappoint!

One of the most influential childhood characters makes his long awaited spin jump from our gaming consoles onto the big screen. I think it's safe to say that when we saw the first draft of the hero’s look last year, it made us feel like it’d be okay to skip this one; but the famous blue hedgehog sped through those concerns and didn't disappoint.

The movie is the origin story of Sonic (Ben Schwartz) living on earth.  The lonely hedgehog accidentally creates a power outage that ultimately brings unwanted attention. The government hires Dr. Robotnic (Jim Carrey) to investigate the cause of the catastrophe. Once he realizes that Sonic is the culprit, Robotnic plans to capture Sonic and use him as research for personal gains and world domination. As Sonic plans to get out of dodge, he finds himself in a dilemma which forces him to stay on earth to find his famed rings. While being chased by Dr. Robotnic, Sonic finds a friend in Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) and they go on a quest to find his rings with multiple mishaps along the way. 

This movie brought me back to sitting in front of my Sega Genesis for hours and tuning into the cartoon as a kid.  If you’re a fan of Sonic, you will feel engaged and nostalgic. There are numerous easter eggs in this film, so keep your eyes peeled to find them. 

There are some instances in the movie that feel off in the edit and acting, but they find their way back to these scenes making sense. Director Jeff Fowler did a good job of bringing this film to fruition (especially with the Sonic updates) with his vision. The movie had some positive messages for the kid in all of us involving believing in yourself and the importance of friends. Jim Carrey is stand out as Dr. Robotnic. His character development gave us a flashback to the animated and over the top Carrey we grew to love in Ace Ventura and The Mask. The movie’s soundtrack is another nuance that tied the movie together well. Honestly, I thought the film could have done well as a PG13 and had more action but as a PG rating, it's up to par and has something for everyone to enjoy. It'll be money well spent if you take the kids and I think Sonic will be around for years to come.

P.S. Stick around through the credits.

Rating: B