I went with my family to see Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey on Thursday night at the Alamo Drafthouse in San Francisco. That’s the same theater where Ainsley and I saw Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair in 70mm back in November, and it was just as good as I remembered it. I won’t repeat what I said in that post, other than to recommend it highly. The 70mm showing, while not in IMAX, alas, was bright and crisp, and the sound sublime. If I can find a ticket to the 70mm IMAX showing, I’ll certainly go see it, but it’s been solidly booked.
I also won’t go into too many details of the movie, since there are a ton of good reviews out there, other than to discuss the things about it that I thought stood out.
Firstly, as expected, it’s a gorgeous movie. At no point did anything look anything other than exquisite. The places where effects were needed, they’re good. For example, the cyclops Polyphemus (although not ever referred to in the movie by his name) was terrifying, and the scenes of him eating soldiers were shocking without actually being overly gory. The sets and locations were fantastic, as were the costumes. I suspect that the production design and many other production departments will be up for several Oscar awards this time around.
The casting and acting were generally great. The cast is all-star to say the least: there are A-listers who would not take a small supporting role for many other movies who did for this one. The high points for me were Anne Hathaway as Penelope, John Leguizamo as Eumaeus, Samantha Morton as Circe, and Robert Pattinson as Antinous. The latter impressed with a palpable, simmering anger similar to his turn in The Batman () layered in with conniving, viperous qualities instead of a heroic one. I do wish we’d had more opportunity for Hathaway to shine. She’s great with what she’s given, but she spends her time in the movie hidden away behind her screen.
Tom Holland as Telemachus is a tough one. He does a fine job playing a character who starts out as immature but trying to fill big shoes, and in an impossible situation. But Holland’s accent and mannerisms did bring me out of the movie a few times. Toward the end, when Telemachus is finally starting to figure out his place, Holland is better off. Holland’s better half, Zendaya, who I think is generally fantastic, is fine as Athena, but doesn’t have enough to do in order to stand out in this veritable sea of beauty and talent—quite a statement, I think, given her own.
That leaves Matt Damon. His take on Odysseus is rather stoic, lacking the charisma and humor of other versions of the character, but he does bring a strong, noble sense to it. It’s hard to fault him for anything here, but the role as it was presented probably doesn’t have the gravitas or range needed to make it Oscar-worthy.
As for Nolan himself, he’s more present than Damon, and deserves to be up for Best Director again. It almost goes without saying that The Odyssey will be up for Best Picture as well. That’s quite a feat for a retelling of a ~2,700 year old story, but Nolan pulled it off.