The Odyssey Review

 

Based on Homer’s over 2,000-year-old epic poem, we follow King Odysseus, who, after helping to win the Trojan War, takes many years to return home as he must battle many a supernatural creature and overcome hardships while his wife and son back in Ithaca must deal with dozens of men trying to wed Penelope and become the new king… and eat a ton of food along the way.

I liked how the narrative would jump around to different parts of the story throughout the film.

For example, at the beginning you hear teases with what happens with the Trojan Horse and see a little of what happens, but then later on in the movie, you see the full details of what happens. They did this with a few different storylines, and it allowed for some cool twists and reveals throughout the film, not to mention helping with pacing out all the different characters, stories, and action set pieces.

Matt Damon plays Odysseus, and his character is the anchor of the story; the title is literally named after him lol. But Damon brings a piratical nature and haunted feel that adds a lot of layers to the character.

This movie has a big cast with a lot of named actors, so much so that actors that have been heavily marketed in the film (Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, and Charlize Theron) are not in the film as much as you expect. They’re all good in their roles, but it’s both impressive and a little crazy how much every character in this movie is played by someone of note. For example: Mia Goth is in the film, and she’s an up-and-coming name, very talented and well liked, and her role could have been played by anyone, like an extra you’d find backstage in Hollywood. Again, Goth did an excellent acting job, but it’s like getting Meryl Streep to play a waiter who brings characters food in one scene and then is never seen again… Like, you got her for that lol.

I liked the adaptation of Helen of Troy; they did an interesting twist with her story and how the Trojan War got started that I haven’t seen in other adaptations and was kind of clever. They also gave her a little interesting heartfelt moment towards the end of her screen time; they added a nice dimension to her character.

I read The Odyssey around middle school/high school, and my favorite part was the Cyclops part, and the filmmaker did an excellent job adapting that section of the book. I found the design of the cyclops really interesting; apparently the filmmakers used giant puppets for a lot of the shots, and when you’re seeing the film, you can tell that there is some impressive giant puppetry going on, which really adds to the scene and the tension.

Anne Hathaway plays Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, in the film, and she brought a lot of emotion in her devotion to her husband but also in trying to hold off and settle down all these different suitors in order to bring peace to the kingdom until Odysseus’s return. Hathaway gets many moments to shine and really flex her acting muscles.

One of the biggest surprises for me was the Circe the Witch part; that section of the movie turned into a straight “body horror film” for a little bit, and again, so much of it looked practical and creepy. I was watching it and thinking, "Damn, Chris… you’re F**KED up," lol.

Himesh Patel plays Odysseus's second-in-command and acts as the surrogate voice for the crew in the film and how they’re feeling, and you really feel bad for this crew, like they get it rough and never catch a break; each place they stop they have to deal with a new obstacle, and there are some points I was like, “I want Odysseus to get home, but can he take a different way and go alone, because he is not making it easy for this crew, and he’s kind of the reason they’re in the situation in the first place?" Lol

The visuals and landscape vistas are so expensive and eye-popping; this may be one of Christopher Nolan‘s best-looking films. Everything looks just so gorgeous and well-detailed, even some of the nastiest and dirtiest parts.

Some of the adventurers are quicker than others, like the sirens went rather quickly, but the way they present it is still interesting and well made.

Benny Safdie plays the Greek King Agamemnon, and while it’s a small role in the film with even fewer lines, he has a very memorable look and presence whenever he shows up, definitely a standout for me.

Without spoiling anything, there’s a part where they have to deal with “the underworld," and that whole sequence was very unique, and I did not remember it from the book, so it definitely was a big surprise to me.

Elliot Page plays a Greek soldier named Sinon, who ends up becoming almost the emotional through line of the film and brings a surprising amount of emotional stakes to the film for only being in it a small amount.

Cinematography: It was brilliant, very easily going to get an Oscar nomination.

I think the biggest surprise for me was John Leguizamo, who plays Odysseus's loyal blind servant. He adds a lot of heart to the character's devotion to his master and how he becomes almost a surrogate father figure to Odysseus. The character is played by Tom Holmaster, and even in his old weakened state, he’s still kind of a badass and tough guy; it’s a very nuanced role, and Leguizamo brought a lot of charisma and liability to the part.

I think one seems like it will be most people's favorite part of the movie: the Trojan Horse section, how that plays out, what the guys inside the horse have to go through, and all the tension building, not to mention the action set piece built around it. It's a real nail-biter and some of the textbook definition of “great blockbuster filmmaking."

Tom Holland does a good job; his character is mainly there to be like, "Dad's going to come home," and be pissed at all these dudes coming into his home and trying to get with his mom and eat their food, but Holland definitely makes you sympathize with him.

The music in this movie is minimalistic, experimental, and building to this tense crescendo. I wouldn’t be surprised if the composer were passing a kidney stone when he was writing it because everything feels tight and extreme, lol.

I liked how “The Gods” were worked into the film; Nolan has a very psychological take on them and how they can be viewed through people's heads and trauma. I thought it helped ground the movie while still firmly keeping it in a supernatural world.

I love the use of mostly practical effects; there were obviously a few shots of CGI, but for the most part, there was an incredible amount of it. It was done in camera, and you can tell there was a lot of hard work put in because it all looks fantastic… except for one shot, which I’m pretty sure was them having a cardboard cut out of Matt Damon on a boat as it sailed away into the dark, but honestly, the rest of it is just so flawless I can forgive that one scene

The two notable suitors after Penelope are played by Corey Hawkins and Robert Pattinson playing completely unredeemable dicks lol. Hawkins is just rude and trying to fight everyone who comes past him, and Pattinson is so weaselly and slimy in the film, I’m surprised the screen didn’t start dripping slime like a nickelodeon game show whenever he popped on the scene. So your not only rooting for Odysseus to get home because you wanna see him reunion with his family, but also you wanna see him come back and kick these suitors asses, give them that cathartic ass-whooping lol

I’d really be interested in a behind-the-scenes making-of documentary; there are many sequence that look so realistic and must of been insane to shot, you want to see how they were able to pull them off.

A very light SPOILER… for you dogs lovers, there is one scene where it looks like a dog is in imperiled, well I’m to tell you no dogs are hurt in the movie.

A little bit towards the end of the film, there’s this interesting part that has a sort of “anti-war/war trauma” message to it that did feel a little surprising, but I liked how they worked it into the story and how it related to another character. I thought it was a really interesting twist.

I also saw the movie with my mom and also liked it, so if she is giving it an endorsement, it’s definitely good.

I do have some small nitpicks, one being that they tried to make the Trojan horse a little too gritty, like there’s a detail about dog hurting that I’m like, "Well, all of that could’ve been avoided if you guys had done this one thing. " Why wouldn’t you guys do this?" Also, I feel like the third act does go on a little long, maybe because the movie is almost 3 hours, and after everything that happened throughout the film, I was getting a little exhausted, lol. Also,""Whynal climax does have a trope that I see in many movies now that I always roll my eyes at and go, "Well if you guys did this, you guys would win, but they never do it," lol. Finally, the final part of the film has something that seemed a little odd to me given what the story was about; it’s actually something I had a problem with in another Christopher Nolan movie, but the way it’s explained and laid out is mostly OK. Again, it’s just a personal nitpick with me.

At the end of the day, this is a story about a group of guys getting home and having to overcome, many obstacles and hardships. One of the biggest compliments I can give this film is how well Christopher Nolan wove the action and drama together throughout the story. Like for you action fans out there, you’re going to get plenty of spectacle and impressive fight scenes and tense stealth sequences, but you never lose track of the characters' emotional state and the toll this journey takes on not only the crew but Odysseus’s family and friends. I give the film a low 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️; it’s definitely a movie made for and best experienced on the big screen.