While not the first ‘brand name’ star director drawn to the James Bond legacy (earnest franchise flirtation from the likes of George Lucas, Brian De Palma*, Quentin Tarantino; kidding-on-the-square projects from Michel Hazanavicius, Paul Feig, Brad Bird*), Christopher Nolan is the first to bring overwrought argumentum ad absurdum to the task, tying conceptual knots as he paints himself into narrative corners. Hiding behind a disfiguring beard as he works to save the world from the plutonium-fueled destruction of rich Russian oligarch Kenneth Branagh, John David Washington is our Bondian ‘Protagonist,’ fighting mercenary comrades out of the past, present & future. Nolan’s big metaphysical twist bringing on inverted time continuum attack doppelgängers. (Don’t ask, though immaculately handled on a technical level.) It all leads to a big action set piece designed for 3D chess players . . . and those who wish they were. (No one dared mention to Nolan the high probability of karmic renewal sapping suspense?) Best to sit back and admire the production design. Robert Pattinson manages to make an impression as Washington’s sidekick, coasting on quirky charm and Montgomery Clift’s wide-set eyes until Nolan spoils even that with a shameless dialogue lift out of CASABLANCA as tag ending, tweaked to shill a possible sequel. Anyone hoping that DUNKIRK might have led Nolan away from his belief that artistic complexity must be tied to narrative complexity is in for disappointment.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Any sequel should drop forward or inverted motion and go for palindromic narrative design. Perfect for Nolan! Start in the middle and super-impose tandem movement in both directions.
DOUBLE-BILL: *Brad Bird & De Palma released their inner-James Bond in respective MISSION IMPOSSIBLE pics, though Nolan only revisits Christopher McQuarrie’s MI: ROGUE NATION/’15 for its opening attack on an opera house.
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