bwolo’s review published on Letterboxd:
For all the charges of incomprehensibility being leveled at this, I'd say a good two-thirds of it constitutes the most straightforward lizard-brain action thriller Christopher Nolan has ever made; the poorly mixed sound makes it seem more elusive than it is. In the last ~45 minutes the brainiac high-concept, seemingly born of an ambition to innovate a new type of fictional time travel, emerges more fully but gets swallowed by the blockbuster scale. (Nolan is still, after all, an unlikely candidate for the kind of budgets he gets.) I wasn't bored but was left wanting more; the premise implies a mindfuck but you end up with more of a mindtease, and the pleasures you settle for are the familiar sights and sounds of chase, combat, and combustion—even if some of those are happening backwards. Honestly the main takeaway here might be John David Washington's coming-out party, a genuine movie star in his own right even if his inflections sometimes sound eerily like his dad's. I didn't have a bad time with this but it would have been nice to hear more of the dialogue.
[I went to the Music Box on a Tuesday afternoon to see this in 70mm. There were maybe 30 people in attendance with adequate distancing and masks worn by all. It wasn't the most relaxing moviegoing environment but I didn't feel any less safe than I do at the grocery store. Still, it's an unnecessary risk so cross your fingers I don't have reason to regret it!]