Tenet star Himesh Patel is amazed by the lack of CGI used in the trippy, time-bending adventure. Last summer, Patel charmed audiences as Jack Malik in the Beatles-inspired drama Yesterday, and he was poised to be a major star of this summer with Christopher Nolan's Tenet. Like nearly every detail about Tenet, not much is known about Patel's character beyond the fact that he's named Ahmad, and he was glimpsed in the most recent trailer conspiring with Robert Pattinson and John David Washington. Nolan has put a great deal of effort into keeping Tenet's secrets tightly under wraps, which makes its slow arrival in theaters even more excruciating.
Tenet was initially scheduled to come out in theaters last weekend, but the COVID-19 pandemic has kept most movie theaters across the globe shut down for the time being. In an attempt to keep Nolan happy, Warner Bros. postponed Tenet by two weeks, though it was soon delayed once more to August. Moviegoers were hopeful that Tenet would stay there, but just yesterday, news broke that Tenet has been delayed indefinitely, and Warner Bros. is in the midst of coming up with a new release strategy.
Nevertheless, Tenet remains one of the most anticipated movies, and its stars have slowly been teasing more and more about what fans can expect. While talking to GQ India, Patel praised the way Nolan approaches special effects in his movies, explaining, "The scale of it is just incomprehensible and then when you find out that it's all been done in camera - there’s maybe a tiny bit of CGI in his movies - it’s mind blowing." When it came to Tenet, Patel added, "I don't understand how they even do that, but [Nolan] finds a way. And that means that the whole crew is part of these huge stunts that he pulls off - like the thing you would have seen in the trailer with the plane. That was an actual plane that production had to buy to blow up!"
The infamous plane shot was indeed included in Tenet's second trailer and seems to be the work of Pattinson's mysterious character. Really, much of Tenet can be described as mysterious, as the few things that have been revealed about the plot are that it is set within the world of international espionage, the good guys are working to stop a World War III-level event, and the action involves some kind of reverse time manipulation called "inversion".
Nolan is certainly unlike any blockbuster director working today, between his penchant for original stories and his dedication to the theatrical experience. It should come as no surprise that Tenet is grounded in as many practical effects as possible, and that will likely serve to make the final product even more thrilling. All that's left now is to actually get Tenet out into the world, which is surprisingly its biggest obstacle. Hopefully Warner Bros. can find an acceptable 2020 date so that it can still come out this year, though if they cannot, fans will have to wait until next year to finally unlock the mysteries of Tenet. Be sure to check back for more updates.
Source: GQ India