The Odyssey

Another excellent film by Christopher Nolan. The Odyssey is a 3-hour long epic that is well adapted for the modern world. The humanity of the original poem remains intact and it shares ideas that are relevant for everyone in our current age.

The story spans several decades, telling the classic tale of a king who must fight his way home to his family who are embattled by would be kings trying to usurp the throne. And boy oh boy does Odysseus and the family run into all kinds of trouble!

It’s the quintessential hero's journey injected with modern interpretations and nuance (and sometimes a lack thereof likely necessitated by current state of attention spans, historical knowledge limitations, general media literacy concerns, etc). But it’s also quintessentially Nolan as it continues the themes of Oppenheimer (i.e. a hero wrestling with “what have I become?”). So it’s a type of thought frequently explored by Nolan but also tracing all the way back to Homer and the current incarnation in this film is tremendous.

The movie is a full 3-hours, meaning there are quick cuts, constant action, and always something going on to give the lengthy tale an excellent pace that does not feel like it is 3 hours long (c.f. Oppenheimer). The effects are excellent and the audio is very normal for those concerned on the editing side of things.

You also of course get brilliant acting from the entire ensemble, largely well casted with Nolan bringing out the best for everyone as he tends to do. And speaking of Nolan, he can tell some grand tales and this is one of his best, even if he does huff his own farts a teeny bit. I didn't watch it on one of the ~40 IMAX theaters globally that are capable of the 70mm display, but the AMC dine-in did more than well enough.

I definitely recommend watching The Odyssey. It’s a masterful production.

The ✨ discourse ✨ around this (and seemingly all modern things) is mind-numbingly stupid so don't even bother digging into the diatribes.

Trust me bro, I read The Odyssey 15+ years ago in an ancient classics course. The movie does the tale justice. You can relax and nitpick some lines or performances or or scenes (see: fight scenes) or some inaccuracies to history or the original. But it is an indisputably great, well-acted modern film about one of humankind's most classic, epic stories ever told and will be worth a rewatch.

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