TENƎꓕ
In watching Tenet again, I can definitively answer the question I posed with my Dunkirk review on my placement in the greater filmography of Christopher Nolan's works. And so I can absolutely say that yes Dunkirk is my least favorite film of his but when it comes to Tenet, I'm not quite sure whether I'd say I'd like it better than the next ones up from the bottom, that being Insomnia and The Dark Knight Rises. I would say of the three, Tenet definitely has my favorite concept with its story. But what I find that I don't like with the film is how many logical paradoxes it opens itself up to potentially, which happens in pretty much every time travel story. But this the story here has an interesting approach to handling this, where in the story you as an extension of the protagonist are literally told to not get hung up on the details and just accept the process for what it is. Which this works because in the story they didn't invent it, you're right there with them trying to make sense of the time travel process.
One thing I would say I noticed more with Tenet that I liked was its cinematography where it felt with some scenes in the first half of the film, it would give a nod to classic James Bond films from the 60's and 70's. I feel this was done since the film is similar to that of a spy thriller like James Bond but is way more grounded in its protagonist, ironically as it's story is much more abstract. So with this, I'd say this is some of my favorite cinematography in a film that Nolan made just for the simple fact that it had some that stuck out to me and made me take notice and appreciate it.
On this third time watching Tenet, I felt much more heartbreak at the end with the bittersweet ending between the Protagonist and Neil. In this scene is when John David Washington's performance is at its greatest. But even more so the premise this movie is about, where I'll go into spoiler territory here.
***SPOILERS***
The basic premise behind Tenet is it's about the future a couple generations later in humanity discovering time travel and using it in a desperate attempt to either prevent or at least punish present day humanity for destroying the Earth as the natural disasters decimated the planet and drought ensued with rivers running dry as a result of global warming. I couldn't help but think how interesting it would be if a sequel was made to show the first time the Protagonist recruits Neil and show more of that world in general or even show a story from the perspective of the future society in their desperation of betting against the grandpa paradox of hoping that killing their ancestors may help them or at the least bit see their story in reacting to the wretched world they were born into. Of course if this was done I feel it would be Nolan's most depressing movie yet.