The Odyssey

⭐ 7/10

I think we need to have a conversation about expectations, but at this point in his career every Nolan movie is an event. This has been true for a long time now, but since Oppenheimer he now has the critics on his side, so every movie now needs to be a masterpiece. In my mind this isn't even close to that, and while its a great movie my own expectations make me think about it worse because of the overwhelming praise for something that I thought was just good. I don't think that's being a contrarian, I wanted to love this movie and did everything in my power to see it as early as possible. But there's no denying that not loving the movie turns into not liking it in the face of such undisputed passion from the rest of the world.

Nolan can make some beautiful images, and in this grand epic I really only thought there is one portion that will stick with me, and that's the Trojan horse. Its scattered throughout the movie, but every time that horse was in frame I thought it was awe-inspiring, in a way that made me upset that the rest of the movie wasn't that. Things like Scylla and Charybdis, which should be a memorable set piece, were completely unimaginative compared to that (Pirates of the Caribbean has a better whirlpool). The cyclops scene was great, and a good combination of practical and digital effects, but then its almost repeated with the island of the giant warriors to lesser effect. The Horse and the Cyclops are my most memorable images, and for a movie that insists on seeing this on a massive screen as the creator intended, I don't think it actually used that space well? The hype is just so high for something that didn't leave any lasting positive impact on my movie brain.

Nolan dialogue has always sucked, and I thought this was quite poor. So much exposition for the first 30 minutes. People saying "Zeus's Law" in almost every single scene. We get it! We know what it is now! Show us instead of explaining it to us! Reminded me a ton of "Murphy's Law" in Interstellar, another movie that makes me feel like a freak for not liking. They are similar in a bunch of ways to me, hollow movies with the highest level of craft, stunning vessels for empty ideas. Is the takeaway of The Odyssey that us treating strangers poorly caused civilization to collapse? If so, and Odysseus has this epiphany while sacking Troy, why does he spend his whole trip home being terrible to strangers! This Troy retelling at the end falls completely flat when we just watched his time after it not using the learnings he apparently had. Shooting the Cyclops, for example, is a great moment of cocky Odysseus, but then we are told he was actually a changed man after Troy, so why did he do that? Not to be like "I read the book and it's better", but this Odysseus just doesn't have a ton of substance in comparison to the clever and brash hero of myth.

Nolan is adapting something, so he's of course allowed to draw his own conclusions about what something means and show us that. It just felt like a repeat of Oppenheimer, which is very naturally mythic, a Promethean man opening Pandora's box and then being haunted by what he has unleashed. I don't think this story warrants any of that, and then at the end Penelope is like, civilization will rise again. What? It felt so ham-fisting, like he picked his theme before reading the story. He likes great men who are complicated and need to reckon with their actions, who doesn't. Like Tenet, which felt like a worse execution of his same ideas in Memento, this was just a bigger Oppenheimer attempt.

Joe said something that I will always associate with Nolan now, in that his movies are too clean and stylish, without the artistry of a madman. Like a scientist making a movie instead of an artist. I don't know how I will ever unsee that now, especially with this movie's empty space and sleek design. To be clear, I'm not one of those loser's who thinks this cast sucks because of race, or discounts the movie because its not "accurate". Get a life. I thought Agamemnon looked really cool, and the casting choice there is very interesting for what that character represents. There are a lot of great pieces here, for something that tries so hard to connect emotionally but can't.

Another reason my hype was high was for the score, which I found mostly forgettable. Not that "hum-ability" is a prerequisite for a good soundtrack, but there was nothing memorable for me here. Even Oppenheimer has pieces I will never forget. Ludwig is a genius, and I am probably just stupid, but I wanted more a classical epic movie soundtrack here, with themes for people and places. The gold standard here is LOTR, or even more recently Dune. The sound is phenomenal, I just can't say I dug the music.

As you can see, comparison is the thief of joy, and I was comparing this to Dune the entire time, an epic that is truly epic, with costume/set/vehicle designs and sounds and images that are wholly unique and unforgettable. Again, the bar has been set to high, by that movie and Nolan's past movies, so something of this scale has no be either perfect or totally subpar. I've been trying to give it more credit since seeing it, but then I remember more that I thought was bad. The final fight is Marvel-esque, one man against 100. Good thing they all take turns attacking him! And he is punished for his sins by getting to... sail off into the sunset with his wife? He kills all these dudes after our virtue-signaling about Zeus' law for 2 hours. I could have ignored it and been swept up in the sweet revenge if the movie wasn't actively trying to be so much more than that.

When Penelope and Odysseus have their farewell conversation I really had to laugh, he is lying on his belly on his bed, and she is lying on top of him in a way that looks intimate but I am not actually sure two people have ever lied in bed that way? Nolan gets criticized for his thin female characters, and this totally felt like "this is how how a married couple lies in bed, right?". Just a funny early moment that had my guard up for more silliness.

Pattinson is the best part of the movie, but he's in a totally different movie, and I hope to see that energy in Dune 3. Holland is a total stick in the mud, and him next to Pattinson is tonal whiplash which goes beyond character roles. No one has fun in Nolan movies, but Pattinson was, and its a glimpse of what this movie could have been. Theron, Bernthal, Hathaway, all these charismatic actors given bland dialogue, being all stern and serious. Leguizamo was excellent in a surprisingly fleshed out role, more of this please! The same could be said of Zendaya and Athena, but that part had the potential to be the most impactful! This physical symbol of the regret he bears, and a representation of the ever-present gods, I actually thought that was a genius way to use her. But she's in like 5 minutes of the movie! I get why you can't have gods everywhere, after all this is a serious Nolan movie, but done this way I think this movie could have been really excellent.

I should stop whining, no one likes to hear someone complain. Again, I really wanted this to be good, and I promise I wasn't watching this trying to be a contrarian. At the end of the day the floor for a movie with this level of craft is insanely high, so my incessant nit picking is for a movie that is better than 90% of movies being made. In closing, here are my updated Nolan rankings (of the ones I've seen) that the fans have been clamouring for.

1. Memento
2. The Dark Knight
3. The Prestige
4. Oppenheimer
5. Dunkirk
6. Inception
7. The Odyssey
8. Interstellar
9. Tenet
10. Batman Begins
11. The Dark Knight Rises

1-3 are S Tier, 4-6 A, 7-10 B, 11 C