The Odyssey is an incredible story. It’s a classic tale that everybody should read in their lifetime. Trying to make it into a movie is no small feat. Maybe a handful of directors can make the story into an incredible movie, and yes, Christopher Nolan is one of them, but that doesn’t mean we actually needed another movie about The Odyssey. As more reviews come out praising this movie, hyping it up before we start award season, and cinephiles talk as if this is one of the greatest epics made for the big screen, I guess I have to be different and say, not so much! However, I am not saying this is a horrible movie. It is one that everybody should see, and if you are a true movie fan, you should experience it in an IMAX theater. But even after watching it, I’m still asking the question… did we really need this movie?
As the title suggests, this is not Christopher Nolan’s best film. It’s more hubris from an Oscar-winning director to put his stamp on a classic story…I get that. I can appreciate an artist trying to tackle such a hard story and keep and make it into a 3-hour film. That doesn’t make this the greatest film ever made or even put it in the same category as films like Lawrence of Arabia, Ben Hur with Charlton Heston, or even Doctor Zhivago. It is a cinematic marvel, but it’s also a very tedious story, only to get to the final 30 minutes of the movie, which is really the best part of the film. Just because Odysseus took a long time returning home doesn’t mean movie fans should have to take a long journey just to get to the best part, and this is one of my biggest gripes. I love Christopher Nolan as a director, and he’s directed some of my favorite movies, but I am by no means a fanboy and praise him as if he can do no wrong. If I wouldn’t do that for Steven Spielberg, then I won’t do it for Nolan. I enjoyed watching this movie on the big screen, but I also have no interest in doing it, thinking the same thing. Great films are those you want to see on the big screen again and again. Average films are the ones that you can experience once and feel like that’s all you need. So, let’s dive into what makes this movie work and how hubris got the better of Christopher Nolan.
There’s no denying that there are great performances in this movie. This is one of Matt Damon’s best performances in a long time. I would say his best performance since Ford versus Ferrari. He makes a great Odysseus, but he truly shines in the last 30 minutes of the movie. Tom Holland probably has the best performance of Telemachus that we’ve ever seen. He was good, embodied the role as a young and experienced Prince who’s just trying to do the right thing. He brings a sensibility to the character that not only shows weakness, but also the rise of a hero. Anne Hathaway absolutely shines as Penelope. This is one of her best performances, and I’m sure we will be talking about it during award season. Robert Pattinson gives one of his best performances as a villain playing Antinous. He is so unlikable in the role that you root for his death, and despite gaining fame from the Twilight movies, he has had some really great performances in movies, even playing one of the best younger versions of Bruce Wayne/Batman. There’s no denying that the performances are fantastic in this movie and make it worth watching.
One of the things Christopher Nolan does well, he’s technically sound as a filmmaker. Every one of his films is brilliantly shot from the use of colors and shadows, and the kind of music that he purposely uses to heighten intensity and build emotion. Honestly, the way this movie was shot is the best part of the film. It’s loud, and it’s meant to be. He wants us to feel like we’re in an ancient battle while also feeling the action that Odysseus must face in trying to get home. Because of the way he is technically sound in shooting a film, that’s what made his Batman trilogy the best films to date. A great filmmaker will make us feel the pain and the emotions of the characters. For example, we as an audience will feel claustrophobic when watching the scenes of the soldiers inside the Trojan horse. Also, since this is an ancient story, the use of natural light is very important, as well as balancing that with the obvious CGI. Everything feels incredibly real in life-like, especially the monsters and the dead. Whether the story is great or not, Christopher Nolan’s technical brilliance will always make his films better. Oppenheimer is one of my all-time favorite films and the way he shifted between black and white and color between the different characters’ points of view made us easily connect with or hate the characters. For fans of movies that love all the tactical aspects, The Odyssey is a masterclass on how to bring an ancient story alive without making it too shiny and bright and some over-exuberant action movie as they did with Troy 20 years ago. I still like that movie, but The Odyssey has more raw emotion that allows us as an audience to go on the journey with Odysseus, to feel his pain, to feel his regret, and connect with him at the end of the film when he sets everything right.
I don’t have any complaints about how this movie was shot. Whether I like Christopher Nolan’s stories, I always appreciate how he films a movie. There have been different versions of the Odyssey, some that have not aged well. Like the 1997 mini-series. If we go back and look at that film, the CGI is terrible. No one’s version is probably the most realistic in haunting portrayal of this story, but as I’ve said before, this is a hard story to tell in a 3-hour movie. Now Christopher Nolan is able to tell the whole story mostly through flashbacks as Odysseus is trying to remember during his time with Calypso. However, the absolute best part of the movie is when he returns to Ithaca, fakes his identity, and then reclaims his throne. It just takes too long to get there, and this is the hard part when it comes to filming The Odyssey. I don’t think it’s meant to be a movie. If you want a fantastic telling, then you almost must do it as a limited series. It must be at least 6 hours long because it’s such a huge story. Nolan’s version feels like the clip notes version of the story, where really the journey is just seen through memory. I can appreciate the artistry of that, but it also takes away from the story.
For example, Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven is a great movie, but it’s only great when you watch his 4-hour version. Because it’s such a grand story, you need that much time to tell a good story. A 2 and 1/2 theatrical version just doesn’t cut it, and that’s how I feel about this movie. So, it makes me wonder if there is a 4-hour version that would make the story better. After all, there’s so much stuff that happens along the way before Odysseus returns to Ithaca that it kind of only scratches the surface within this movie. Also, you really have to make people want to watch the story of the Odyssey because it’s not like watching a Lord of the Rings movie, where it easily grabs you and takes you on this tourney. It’s a very classical story like a Shakespearean play, and you’re not going to watch it over and over, but you also have to be in the mood for it. This is one of the reasons I say that this is not his best film because it’s not one that we’re going to revisit as an audience. For me, it’s an okay movie, but like the Lord of the Rings extended editions, I think you almost need that to make this a great movie, and maybe there will be a director’s cut. Oppenheimer was a perfect 3-hour movie that told a complex philosophical story. It worked well within that time frame, but I don’t think the Odyssey really does, and that’s why we may need a longer version, believe it not. However, the 3-hour version is fine for theaters.
Overall, while I do not think this is a great movie, Christopher Nolan proves that he can take a complicated classic story and make a good movie, but as my title says, it is not his best. He has certainly made some movies that are damn near perfect. I have no doubt that he can be a modern-day David Lean who can easily make these great epics like Lawrence of Arabia or Doctor Zhivago, but will a movie studio allow him to make a 4-hour movie with an intermission like those classic epics? The story of the Odyssey is perfect for that kind of epic film, and I wish he had been allowed to make that version and put it in theaters. I guess if we do get a director’s cut, then we’ll just have to watch it on Blu-ray or streaming. However, as a critic, I’m not telling fans not to go see this movie because it is worth experiencing it at least one time in the theater…you won’t regret it, but the Odyssey for me does not live up to the hype and certainly doesn’t live up to his other masterpieces. He was very deserving of the Oscar for Oppenheimer, but if we’re going to talk about his best movies, The Odyssey is not even in the top five. Interstellar and The Dark Knight are his two best movies. They’re almost a perfect 10. Oppenheimer is great. Memento is still an incredible movie and worth revisiting. But even Inception and Batman Begins are worthy to round out his top five movies. I always choose Batman Begins over Inception because I’m a nerd.
The Odyssey may not be one of his best movies, but it proves that even a middle-of-the-road story can be made better because of how he shoots the film. I can spend hours talking about the technical aspects of the film and why no one is so brilliant, but that brilliance would have translated better to a different kind of story. There are plenty of great and complicated historical figures that he can tackle instead of telling a classic story that we really didn’t need on the big screen. If somebody ever wanted to redo The Right Stuff or at least have a new take on it about the beginning of the NASA program, I would pick Christopher Nolan to do that story because he would make the early space flights really come alive, especially with landing on the moon if the story went that far. We’ve already had great movies about the space race; I just use it as an example of how his technical brilliance would translate into another space movie, but then again, Interstellar is almost perfect, and I don’t know how he could top that. My final verdict on the Odyssey…yes, go see the film and experience it even if you only watch the film once, but if you’re bored with the journey for the first 2 hours, the final act will make it worth it. Christopher Nolan knows how to find a great cast and maximize their talents for the ultimate performance. He did that with The Odyssey, and this just may be the film that gets Matt Damon and an Oscar for acting. Again, I won’t say it’s a great film, but Christopher Nolan can always make a story better than it really is, and that’s why I can’t wait to see what he does next. It’s also why I never get tired of watching his movies, even the ones that are just okay. But yes, The Odyssey is an experience that everybody should have in the theaters at least once…It was truly a masterpiece in an IMAX theater, not for the story, but because of the way it was filmed.
Christopher Nolan 5 Best Movies
- Interstellar
- The Dark Knight
- Oppenheimer
- Memento
- Inception
Honorable Mention – Batman Begins
