The Odyssey Review

Written by: Matthew Raab

The Oppenheimer “blank check” jokes were funny, but The Odyssey might have written Nolan a blank… anything. The success of this movie might give him the green light to do anything he wants. Nolan’s mastery at blockbuster filmmaking shines once again as he wields one of history’s most famous epics into an emotional tale about humanity and its bonds

Nolan’s films, as grim as they may be, are deeply human. Interstellar saw the determination of humanity to persevere even against odds far out of their favor. Oppenheimer illustrated his remorse at the capability for destruction he had unleashed on the world. Even in “a time of apparent magic,” as the opening subtitle says, The Odyssey takes Homer’s poem and weaves it into film. Nolan reshapes (and reorders) the narrative around Odysseus’s journey to center on reckoning with breaking the sacred bonds that keeps humans bonded together in society. It follows up on that same sort of grim remorse that punctuated Oppenheimer with his guilt at creating a weapon capable of such mass destruction. The Odyssey expresses this same human regret with Odysseus breaking Zeus’s law, yet offers notes of optimism for the future with its ending remarks as him and Penelope sail to the unknown west. With the sprawling sandboxes Nolan chooses to develop these themes in, it was almost inevitable that something as grand as The Odyssey could be one of the only things to contain his creative melodrama. 

The performances from this shockingly stacked cast refuse to slack off. Although plenty of criticisms have arisen of Tom Holland’s Telemachus (His “The feast is done!” line read is hilarious but certainly not a detriment to his performance), he fills the role of a prince aspiring to take the throne but isn’t yet ready. Holland gets unfair judgment because of how compelling Penelope (Anne Hathaway) is in comparison as well; Hathaway lets her grief over Odysseus as well as her intolerance of the suitors bleed into her performance, with her screaming “I want Odysseus!” making viewers jump more than once. And speaking of the suitors, you can’t forget about Robert Pattinson’s Antinous. You can’t say enough about the year he’s been having so far (because everyone else already has), but how he plays such a snivelly, slimy fraud entertains to such a surprising (yet also unsurprising) extent. 

Matt Damon oddly feels at home in the shoes of Odysseus (or, Nolan’s version of him). A humble and cunning soldier turned bearer of mortal sins, as he carries his crew across treacherous seas trying to find their way home, yet also trying to defy the gods’ punishments by not wanting to give up any more lives. His interactions with a priestess of Athena (Zendaya) that haunts him following Troy are some of the most compelling in the film, as he repeatedly tries to grapple with understanding the gods, yet he repeatedly ignores all of the warnings Athena points out to him. It’s a shame that Zendaya’s acting couldn’t be utilized more, but within the confines of the character, she shines as a great contribution. The scene when Odysseus finally comes to terms with the mortal sins he committed when speaking to Penelope is easily a standout favorite in the film; Damon delivers such a real understanding of his mortality and where he stands under the gods after finally giving himself up to receive punishment.

One thing that imparts on viewers the most about Nolan’s films is “the sequence.” It’s vague, but in relation to his films, you can get an idea; Bane hijacking the plane in The Dark Knight Rises; The Trinity bomb test in Oppenheimer; and Dunkirk’s restaging of the evacuation on the beach. Nolan’s almost auteur-esque dedication to drawing out the realism of these scenes with as many practical effects as possible still has moviegoers talking about them to this day. And this practice of “the Nolan scene” is further emboldened with The Odyssey. Much less than when he restaged the siege of Troy or when he had actors commit to waiting inside the Trojan Horse, the most famous of these so far has been the CGI Cyclops being based around a large-scale puppet used on set. With how these scenes stick with you, especially the Cyclops with its cry almost setting a record for the loudest sound recorded in a film, it’s certainly worth the effort Nolan puts in. 

Following on Oppenheimer’s partial filming in IMAX 70MM, The Odyssey being shot entirely within the format expands the viewing experience (literally and metaphorically); regardless of whether you’re in the front row or the perfect seat. Capturing such large shots, especially several long shots throughout, emphasizes how small-scale these mortals are in the face of punishments from the gods. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema joins Nolan for their fifth film working together as he captures such expansive imagery for the film; some of my favorite shots come from when the group is at sea and getting tortured by the several mythological punishments that await them, making their journey and even their suffering feel more personal.

The Odyssey’s IMAX 70MM run has been extended to September 16th due to overwhelming demand, despite having unusual showing times such as 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Tickets are currently listed on IMAX’s website.