The Odyssey is the latest Christopher Nolan joint. Viewers know Nolan will deliver something mathematically precise. The question is, will it be entertaining or will it be like attending an academic lecture on mythology?
Let’s find out. No spoilers.
Can you even spoil a story more than 2,000 years old?
The Odyssey
Scholars generally agree the epic poem of The Odyssey was composed in ancient Greece around the 8th century BC. The story follows King Odysseus of Ithaca on his treacherous ten-year journey home from the Trojan war.
Odysseus meets friends along the way, including mythical monsters and Poseidon’s wrath. Meanwhile, his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, fight to save their kingdom from greedy suitors.
Nolan’s adaptation generated a lot of controversial buzz with its casting, language choices and design choices.
I personally find Nolan films difficult to review because he is generally competent all around, and it all comes down to whether a viewer agrees with his choices or not.
Let’s look at The Odyssey from a good, bad and middling perspective.
The Bad
Casting is the main issue here. Putting E. Page in any movie is problematic. Way too much baggage comes with that decision that immediately ejects the viewer from the emersion of the story. The performance is also not good. To put a positive spin on it, this is perhaps a case of Nolan being kind to someone he worked with previously.
Casting Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy created a lot of teeth-gnashing. It is a non-issue from a film standpoint. She is hardly in the movie. Honestly, this decision makes a person wonder if Nolan isn’t trolling everyone. How? Casting Lupita poked the anger merchants, yet it will not surprise me if wokesters hop on the complaint train, as well, when they realize Nolan gave the most meaningless female role of the film, which is essentially “Angry Black Woman,” to the most black female.
As for Zendaya… Honestly, did Nolan have a choice? Is Hollywood contractually obligated to put Zendaya in every film at this point. Her performance is resting bitch face, as per usual.
Still, when all is said and done, her character is not a huge distraction, and her presence sort of makes sense in the end.
I didn’t realize Charlize Theron was in the movie until she appeared as Calypso. For my money, Theron was more distracting than anyone. Her facial expressions don’t ring true anymore, if you know what I mean…and I think you do…
The Middling
The Odyssey runs a bit long, clocking it at almost three hours. It takes the viewer a while to settle in, but the hooks start to sink deeper as the movie moves along. The viewer gradually finds themselves invested in the journey.
Despite the movie’s length, some sequences seem a bit shortchanged. The Odyssey packs a lot of events into the character’s trip home. Some of them could be more fleshed out.
Next, the supernatural elements could be treated more overtly. It would be fun to see Nolan go full Harryhausen with those things. Alas, Nolan is a literal man, and that may be a bridge too far for him.
The Cyclops is interesting in design, however. When you see a still of the creature, it is difficult to make sense of the choice. Yet, when the creature is in motion, your brain sees it and thinks, ah, I understand the deformity now…even as you still can’t quite grasp it.
As for the hubbub about the modern language. Yeah, a couple “dads” happen in the beginning of the film that seem odd, but they quickly pass, and the dialogue is of little notice from that point forward. The black rapper bard is a jarring choice, but that also happens right away, and then it is mostly forgotten about.
Costume design is another aspect that got criticized by online historians. Some people thought it was an Ikea version of Greek armor. Maybe it is. Shrug.
All of this stuff is a bit of a gray area to me because Odysseus is an unreliable narrator. The whole story is embellishment.
The Good
Pretty much every other aspect of the film is solid. Sure, Tom Holland is 100-percent Tom Holland, but he is naturally a fancy lad that could conceivably be a prince.
Otherwise, Matt Damon is good. Leguizamo is decent rather than insufferable. Bernthal is Bernthal. It was fun to see Mia Goth and Logan Marshall-Green in small roles.
The best performer is not a huge surprise. Despite his Twilight past, Robert Pattinson continues to bring the goods. His portrayal of a douchebag suitor to Penelope, played by Anne Hathaway, is nicely slimy.
Ultimately, The Odyssey is a guy movie given a slight fantasy sheen. It’s about a man who goes to war and tries to make it home while overcoming various challenges. He sees some bad stuff along the way, learns something about himself and kills some people with a bow.
The Odyssey
One more item of conversation is that some could define the “Law of Zeus” within the film as woke messaging about letting strangers within the gates of a city. Yet, it is not so simple as that. Nolan pulls no punches is showing what happened to a city that followed that law to the letter, despite the objections of the citizens.
The demise of Nolan is exaggerated. The Odyssey will make money, and Nolan will garner more carte blanche.
Only time can determine if The Odyssey will be considered a classic. I lean toward probably not. It is not lightning in a bottle, but it is still a highly competent film. General audiences will turn out for the trip.
