An Entertaining Epic
Summary
The Odyssey has some surprising moments of body horror and really earns its R rating while also giving us memorable characters and some spectacular action scenes. I get why some won’t like it as it is a little overlong and takes a while to get going but once the Cyclops appears you won’t take your eyes off the screen *pun intended*.
Plot: Odysseus (Matt Damon) spends twenty years away from Ithaca. Using his signature nonlinear storytelling, Nolan intercuts Odysseus’s perilous ten-year journey home—battling the Cyclops Polyphemus, the Sirens, and Calypso—with his son Telemachus’s present-day fight to protect his homeland from greedy suitors.
Review: The early trailers for Christopher Nolan’s latest, The Odyssey didn’t seem all that exciting and the more modern language used seemed jarring, but I’d become more interested as time went on and reviews have been mostly stellar (Newt voice) mostly…
I went in with an open mind not having any specific expectations, but I was amazed by how much of the story I already knew as I am familiar with the tale it’s based on and most importantly I loved the cartoon, Ulysses 31 which was inspired by The Odyssey. All I want from this movie is for us to get a live action adaptation of that next, please.
The Odyssey starts off a little slow for about the first 20-30 minutes, but once the Cyclops appears that’s when the film started for me and there are plenty of spectacular set-pieces and battles from then on. The film looks gorgeous and didn’t suffer from the usual Nolan trope of incomprehensible dialogue; I heard every line and didn’t even have my hearing aid in.
The performances are generally faultless with Robert Pattinson almost stealing the show as the slimy and hateful Antinous. Matt Damon gives one of his most emotional performances as Odysseus who is a flawed man and that’s what the story is really about, as well as exploring themes of loyalty, hubris, civilization and more. Tom Holland’s Telemachus was interesting as he was more of a coward than some badass warrior and I thought he played the role well. Anne Hathaway was also fantastic as the long suffering Penelope.
Ludwig Göransson is definitely the golden boy for movie music lately and his score for The Odyssey is effective, although I doubt I would ever listen to it outside of the movie as there is no memorable leitmotif to speak of.
I do think this won’t be for everyone as it is long and surprisingly goes for some real body horror with one scene the most unpleasant Nolan has ever done. Once you see the movie you’ll know what I’m referring to. This movie earns its R rating with plenty of violence and there are several memorable scenes; I thought the Laestrygonians AKA the big silver knights were awesome and that battle scene was one of the highlights. The finale delivers the action goods too, so by the time it ended I was exhausted but satisfied that I had watched a genuine old-fashioned epic.
As always I like when the action is done practically and kudos to Nolan, he tends to agree so the set-pieces never lack in spectacle.
Also, am I the only one who thought Agamemnon looked absolutely awesome in that amazing armour (nice alliteration there, Eoin)? I’d follow him into battle any time.
Overall, The Odyssey is Nolan’s most violent movie to date really earning its R rating and I think that may put off some viewers. Not me though as there is no such thing as too violent. The performances are all first rate and the action is visceral even if it takes a while for it to really kick off. This is worth seeing on the big screen as it’s that kind of rare epic we don’t see much of anymore.