Michael Caine Has Some Pretty Wild Praise For Christopher Nolan's Tenet

Michael Caine and Leo DiCaprio in Inception
(Image credit: (Warner Bros))

Legendary actor, Michael Caine has been a staple of Christopher Nolan’s movies for fifteen years now. He has been in every single one of the Inception director’s movies since Batman Begins – that’s a whopping seven. So of course Caine also has a role in Tenet and has seen it. Alongside praise from critics as it has started to show on screens this week, the British talent has shared his thoughts on the movie too.

Michael Caine does not use Twitter much, but when he does, he makes it count. Back in January, he declared 1917 “Best War Movie,” asked his followers to “Keep your distance and carry on” in June and has now offered his to-the-point review of Tenet here:

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It's simple as that. Michael Caine called the action flick about “time inversion” the best action film… ever. This would place Tenet above the Terminator, MCU, James Bond, John Wick and so forth... oh, and Nolan’s other entries, such as The Dark Knight and Inception. Does it really measure up? The power of movies is how subjective a viewing can be. Tenet has impressed more than disappointed thus far, scoring a 80% on the review-aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. So his hype certainly doesn’t seem out of place. Tom Cruise totally posted a vlog of his trip to see Tenet too.

CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell gave the film a perfect 5 out of 5 in his review, calling the movie something of Christopher Nolan’s Bond movie along with describing its concept as “wildly original” and a “masterpiece.” Many other lucky attendees to theaters have echoed these statements, but not everyone. Some find it to be an especially confusing and hollow entry into Nolan’s work.

For many, Tenet will be their first trip back to the movies after months of theater closures due to global health concerns. Does this skew one’s perception of the Nolan big-budget thriller? It could work in two extreme ways: either your expectations are so high that nothing can impress you, or you're longing so much for a positive experience that you cannot be disappointed. Or is going to the movie theaters after months of streaming and VOD releases like riding a bike? You get back on and it's like you never left?

However audiences experience Tenet, after the number of summer movies that have moved away from the calendar this season, it has certainly become the most highly-anticipated film for moviegoers. This week, 20th Century Studios is also releasing The New Mutants, which is finally getting its homecoming after years of delays after shooting in 2017. Disney’s live-action Mulan is skipping domestic theaters for an exclusive streaming release at the tune of nearly $30, plus a Disney+ account.

Tenet has started playing at theaters internationally now and is expected to reach the U.S. on September 3. Check out CinemaBlend’s 2020 Release Calendar for more upcoming movies to keep your eye out for.

Up next: Tenet Review: Movies Don't Get Much Better Than This

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.