Odyssey

Going into Christopher Nolan's Odyssey, I was fully prepared to hate it. Between the pre-release casting backlash, the actors sounding self-centered in interviews, and my own exhaustion with movies race-swapping pre-existing characters for the sake of being "woke," my expectations were completely mixed. Audiences have a kind of PTSD right now from watching beloved source materials get destroyed. But to my complete surprise? The casting controversies ended up being entirely insignificant.

I haven’t read the original books, so historical inaccuracy didn't color my view, but Nolan's sheer grip on the story, the visuals, and the massive score pushed right past the online noise. Sure, some of the costume designs were a minor drawback, but you barely notice them because the movie just moves. Nolan uses his signature time jumps here, and I actually really liked them. Instead of just being confusing, jumping back and forth constantly explained or re-contextualized what was happening on screen.

The biggest visual impact for me was the sheer scale of the threats. The huge, tall creature in the cave eating the crew was genuinely scary—it made me feel something totally different. And brilliantly, it provided the funniest moment in the film: after they manage to escape the cave, Odysseus decides to shoot a final arrow at the monster while it’s already blind. It was completely unnecessary for him to do, but hilarious.

The performances anchor the massive scale. Tom Holland was great, and Anne Hathaway was amazing. The side cast all did a solid job without being over the top. But where the movie truly blindsided me was the ending. I was watching this with a group of friends—we are all guys—and we were right on the edge of crying. Seeing Penelope’s decades of loyalty, watching her almost fade away waiting for Odysseus... that shit really hit me hard.

Verdict

It's not easy to fully digest this movie on a first watch, especially on a standard screen. The closest IMAX is six hours away from me, so I’m going to have to find a way to fake the experience somehow for my second viewing. Despite all the pre-release drama and internet noise, Nolan delivered a massive, emotionally crushing epic that absolutely demands to be seen again.