Homer’s Odyssey is a story that has been told time and time again, going through several different iterations or interpretations of the source material. Some have taken it at face value while others have taken some degree of creative liberty with it, but the core remains the same: a story about a man desperately trying to get home on a very long voyage. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is a masterful mix of both - a blend of epic Greek fantasy meets human emotion and tragedy in quite possibly the best, arguably most ambitious vision of the source material to date.

The Odyssey takes place after the Trojan war, a conflict extensively covered in the Iliad (though we do get Nolan’s take on its most pivotal events in the opening). Odysseus (Matt Damon) and his men must then take the long journey home by sea to Ithaca, though several perils prolong the trek and the sea-farers now find themselves at odds with Greek mythology’s finest collection of horrors including the Cyclops, sea monsters, and vengeful gods themselves.



This is, without a question, a staggering work of fiction that required deft hands and no short-sighted understanding of the text to pull off. Nolan, who carved his name on prestigious movies like Inception and The Dark Knight, takes on his most supernaturally charged movie to date. Yet, he manages to strike a pitch-perfect balance between spectacle - of which there is a lot - and human drama that keeps The Odyssey anchored and within Nolan’s preferences for grounded realism (or rather, grounded surrealism, I guess).

Nolan, who carved his name on prestigious movies like Inception and The Dark Knight, takes on his most supernaturally charged movie to date.

We witness events unfold over ten years between Odysseus’ journey and the conflict brewing at home in Ithaca, where his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland) fend off suitors vying for the queen’s hand in marriage, most of the opinion that Odysseus died at sea. Despite its behemoth three-hour run time, The Odyssey maintains a great pace and momentum as each new island or threat discovered by Odysseus and his crew is an exciting new action sequence, or in some cases, an unexpected horror sequence like the Cyclops or Circe (maybe proving too well that Nolan should absolutely make a horror film at some point).



The direction is the star of The Odyssey. Nolan helms each action scene or weighty human drama with confidence, reminding of his high emotional points in movies like Interstellar or the creative ingenuity he brought to Inception with its timeless practical effects. Much of The Odyssey is the same, with CGI used sparingly in favour of practical work. While that might seem odd for a story drenched in monsters and myth, it's Nolan’s in-camera feats that continue to impress me the most. He didn’t need to build a giant Cyclops animatronic or, through camera trickery, make the Laestrygonians 12-foot tall monstrosities, but he did and that’s all commendable in an age where every blockbuster movie is falling back on CGI to do its heavy lifting.

Much of The Odyssey is the same, with CGI used sparingly in favour of practical work. While that might seem odd for a story drenched in monsters and myth, it's Nolan’s in-camera feats that continue to impress me the most.

Nolan’s camerawork also continues to be sensational. He understands the need to make a story like The Odyssey as grand and epic as it can be, with sweeping wide shots capturing mythical Greece’s beauty, and cinematography from Hoyte van Hoytema that once again shows why he’s one of the best in the business. Unfortunately I only watched The Odyssey on a normal screen thanks to IMAX tickets being sold out on opening weekend, but I do plan to watch it again soon in IMAX and return to see if it makes any difference. That said, even on a normal screen, not much detail is actually lost or sacrificed in the frame.



The acting anchors the fantastical script with performances that are clearly better than others. Matt Damon delivers some of his best acting in a very long time, balanced by Hamish Patel as his first commander who actually surprised me the most in such a stacked cast. Robert Pattinson is also a standout as Antinous, who commands the screen and maintains a slithery energy in Ithaca when the rest of the cast back home aren’t pulling weight. On that note, Tom Holland is fine but he doesn’t get a lot to work with here, and neither does Jon Bernthal. These are tremendously talented actors but I wish they had meatier scenes overall. The Odyssey, similar to Oppenheimer, also shares the same issue with casting big-name actors in relatively smaller roles. I would’ve liked to see more of Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya and Elliot Page but they’re relegated to a few minutes of screentime only - though to be fair, Page’s performance and storytelling impact does have tremendous payoff.



Nolan’s The Odyssey, at times, is less concerned with the grandiose scale and spectacle of the source material, and zeroes in on an aspect of the story that I really appreciated: humanity. Through the lens of Odysseus’ journey, there’s a lot we’re learning about not only his character, but how the horrors of war and men’s brash decisions in violence aren’t peppered by honour and integrity, but rather the complete opposite. The film never glorifies violence, especially with a story as profoundly brutal as the Iliad, and the writing takes every opportunity to curve character motivations and rationale. It’s riveting character exploration that gives Odysseus layers, errors and pain instead of portraying him as the unshakeable hero journeying home. As much as we root for him to finally go back to Ithaca, a part of me constantly questioned if Odysseus actually earned such a reward after everything is said and done. The Odyssey ends on a note that underlines this theme so dramatically, it’s like a punch to the gut. Yes, it definitely reminded me of Oppenheimer’s ending too in that regard.

It’s riveting character exploration that gives Odysseus layers, errors and pain instead of portraying him as the unshakeable hero journeying home.

As far as negatives go, they’re nitpicks. I didn’t find the audio balancing too distracting this time (a common complaint with Nolan movies), but there were definitely moments where Ludwig Goransson’s tremendous score overlaps dialogue a bit. That could’ve just been the speakers in my cinema too. For such a long movie, the lengthy run time mostly isn’t felt, but there are specific scenes - especially in Ithaca - that may feel like they’re dragging for some viewers.



Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is that rare cinematic achievement that comes around only once in a while - or whenever Nolan makes a new movie, it seems. It’s epic in every sense of the word; not since Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings have we gotten a fantasy film this grand and well-made. While it does have issues that hold it back from being perfect, the sheer filmmaking ambition on display here is eye-opening and should be a wake-up call to Hollywood. Anyone looking for a good reason to go back to the cinema again, there really isn’t a better reason or time.

The Odyssey is now showing in cinemas worldwide.