Oh Hollywood, in a time of shallow plots and lazy CGI-filled films, it’s again time to tell the tale of the ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous city of Troy. Such a fantastical epic that would go on to inspire countless stories of the future has been long ingrained in cultures far and wide. Now, more than 2500 years after the original epic’s inception, Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey sees Odysseus once again set a high bar in epic storytelling.
Much like some of Nolan’s past works, The Odyssey is told in a non-linear fashion. It jumps around to different perspectives and time periods to explore the events of Odysseus’s successful campaign against the previously impenetrable Troy and the supernatural horrors he and his crew encountered when trying to sail home. While almost nothing goes well for Odysseus the Cunning and his men, the movie triumphs in every way.
Matt Damon’s portrayal of the complex hero Odysseus successfully carries the weight of a troubled king trying to keep his men alive, balanced with glimpses of charisma that make him an easy lead to want to follow. But what helps The Odyssey stand out from so many other modern stories is the fact that it starts with its lead near the height of his fame and glory, only to see it all gradually stripped away throughout his journey until the once beloved King of Ithaca is reduced to a shell of what he once was.
“There is not a single weak link in The Odyssey’s casting.”
The role makes great use of Damon’s ability to create a character of determination, haunted by mysteries that the audience gradually gets to see unfold. However, the movie successfully keeps its pacing brisk by spending just the right amount of time following other pivotal characters in The Odyssey’s narrative, while also hearing different accounts of Odysseus’s journey from other characters.
There is not a single weak link in The Odyssey’s casting. Tom Holland continues to prove that he will not be an actor who falls victim to typecasting as Odysseus’s troubled son, Telemachus. Anne Hathaway’s version of Penelope stands as another powerful performance with a version of the character who isn’t afraid to speak her mind or her frustrations in several poignant scenes that left my jaw agape.
And as much as it may pain some of the worst people on the internet to hear, Lupita Nyong’o absolutely kills it as Helen of Troy and Helenʼs twin sister Clytemnestra. Even though both roles have very few scenes, she chews each one up by depicting deep and complicated versions of her characters within seconds of emotional screen time.
Robert Pattinson is another returning Nolan collaborator whose role as Antinous continues to demonstrate his incredible range, this time as the smarmy suitor attempting to claim Odysseus’s throne. The villainous role produces a character that viewers will be excited to see get his comeuppance. Still, while there are plenty of other performances to praise in Nolan’s The Odyssey, there are many other aspects of the film worthy of applause and attention, especially its visuals, use of practical effects and sets that help the movie feel like the biggest film in years.
As the trailers tease, Nolan and his team once again strove to adapt the tale’s many fantastical aspects with grounded realism, helping the film’s most intense moments feel immersive and gripping in all the ways one would hope to find in an effective action epic. Moments like the practical horrors of the Cyclops’ cave and a particularly gruesome, yet transformative, meal Odysseus’s men share are absolute achievements in unsettling practical effects that will likely stay in audiences’ minds long after they leave the theatre.
Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema continues to create stunning visuals, working with Nolan. The effective pairing successfully utilizes IMAX-sized visuals with continuously striking environments filled with haunting landscapes, creatively giving each location the story visits its own visual identity that evolves along with Odysseus’s journey. While Nolan’s eye for realism is front and center, each location has its own unique, almost mystical tint that naturally builds to the location’s, more often than not, tragic climax. It’s the team’s determination to film on location and on huge sets that really pays off in the IMAX format, further helping the movie become the massive achievement it is.
Between the cast, special effects, beautiful colossal sets, and impressive utilization of hundreds of extras, each aspect of The Odyssey feels like it’s operating on the highest level of filmmaking available today. Besides his world-class direction, Christopher Nolan’s writing also deserves to be called out for how well he was able to condense Homer’s epic into an exciting and emotional film that runs just shy of three hours but never feels like it overstays its welcome. The Odyssey is an epic that’s made to be enjoyed in the largest movie theatre you can find and has set a bar that other filmmakers will hopefully attempt to chase for years to come.
