By Marc S. Sanders
It seems that Christopher Nolan is left challenged by one thing – himself. In less than thirty years this director/producer/writer has moved from the simplest of filmmaking with limited funds (Following, Memento) to enormous heights in bonanza showmanship like The Odyssey, the first movie to be completely shot with IMAX cameras. These devices are expensive and according to Nolan, they are also heavy and overbearingly noisy. Yet, IMAX accommodated the filmmaker with specialized boxes to contain their equipment and muffle the sound interference. As such, The Odyssey is a wonder to the eye. Frankly, as impressed as I was with the film, on the most ideal IMAX screen available, I still didn’t see anything that felt any grander than the latest Dune offerings. I mean how far are my pair of 20/15 LASIK eyes supposed to decipher? Don’t get me wrong. I am impressed. However, was I as impressed as I was supposed to be? Should I be nitpicking pixels here?
IMAX says it all though. The landscapes of open desert plains and vast open waters are brilliantly captured. I could never tell you of any inconsistencies or shortcomings. Costumes serve just as any sword and sandal picture that came before. The sound, especially in an IMAX theater, is immersive and deafening as expected. Tidal waves within blinding rainstorms demonstrate this wholeheartedly. The cast is stacked with some of the best talent available. The Odyssey has everything it demands of its legacy and what’s expected of a Christopher Nolan film. Yet, I was never emotionally invested in the picture. Understand that Christopher Nolan knows how to reach an audience on a primordial level of emotions. Think back to Matthew McConaughey’s tearful moment in Interstellar or how he shares scenes with young Mackenzie Foy. Look at Christian Bale’s anguish during the middle section of The Dark Knight. Hugh Jackman and Bale compete for moments of deep rage and sadness within The Prestige.
Nolan wrote his adaptation of Homer’s poetically romantic adventure. I recall reading it in high school. The fat, floppy, black paperback that weighed down my book bag has never been forgotten. The highlights of the story remain in my consciousness from the Trojan Horse to Helen Of Troy (the face that launched a thousand ships), and of course the central plot of having the famed Odysseus making his long awaited journey home. It’s all here, and then there’s more including the towering Cyclops and Circe, the witch who can turn men into pigs. Nolan’s film goes from chapter to chapter, beat by beat. This easily could have been a ten-episode miniseries on HBO MAX, and people would eagerly watch every Sunday night.
I favor Nolan’s choice to rely on modern dialogue, without rooted domestic accents or dialects. It’s a wise choice when delivering a poetic opus to the screen. This movie is a story. It likely would not relate to audiences on a poetic level structured in stanzas. Homer’s work does not lend to dialogue like Shakespeare or Mamet. A friend took issue with referring to Odysseus and Penelope as “mom” and “dad.” I get it. Nolan’s picture is much bigger than Harry Potter. However, the characters are bonded as family. So, it’s a pick your preference kind of situation. You either embrace or it takes you out of the story on occasion.
I’m not sure what I can say that this beast of a film says for itself. If you’re not dazzled by simply one shred of a moment in this picture, then you are impossible to satisfy. Consider me wowed, but I was not moved. The same way that I was never absorbed with Homer’s piece. It was a homework assignment that spanned a long month of my junior year. As a film lover, it’s inevitable that I see this picture. If it’s the first complete IMAX picture from beginning to end, then yeah, I’m spending the extra money to see it that way. Am I going to watch it on repeat, on home video 4K? Probably never on a whim. It’s a chore.
First, the picture seems to presume the viewers have prior knowledge of elements like the battle of Troy and why the war took place before we see how the famed Trojan Horse led to Odysseus’ (Matt Damon) victory with his army. I don’t recall all that merited the action, but Nolan’s footage is astounding, especially that enormous horse on its hind legs. On screen, the figure is as towering as the Statue of Liberty. No wonder the thing is being sold as a popcorn bucket.
As complex as Christopher Nolan’s films can be (Interstellar, Inception), I always thought he was great at spelling out his unique brands of formula. It took me a good hour or more to pencil down who everyone is playing and what purpose they serve in The Odyssey. It boasts a big cast of celebrities who are all given their moments to shine. I was especially taken with Samantha Morton’s Circe, introduced as a helpless woman grotesquely ready to reveal something more. Robert Pattinson is Antoninus, a bratty and cowardly adversary ready to assume rule now that Odysseus has not returned. He truly owns the picture when the focus turns back to him amid the rest of the cast and extras that occupy the room.
Anne Hathaway as Odysseus’ wife Penelope demonstrates nice range away from her Prada films and warm-hug kinds of pictures. She looks quite unfamiliar while leaning into what you’d expect from Cate Blanchett. Tom Holland drops the adolescent mischief of Spider-Man to play Telemachus, the son who takes it upon himself to uncover where his father could be after being gone for two decades.
Lupita Nyong’o may not look like she belongs in a story originated in Greek fiction, but she serves her small but significant role(s) with fierceness. I’m not petty enough to let the appearance or history of an actor diminish my experience of seeing a sensational performance. The same goes for Elliot Page in a crucial cameo. As an aside, knock it off with the woke protests. Theatre is theatre and this is centered in mythology with a Cyclops of all things. If the Romans of Gladiator can speak with English accents, then in the fiction of Hollywoodland, casting has no limits.
I do not think the finished product The Odyssey is a new kind of novelty for filmmaking. Christopher Nolan is taking advantage of the latest advancements that Peter Jackson did with his Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit trilogies. If Nolan didn’t make this movie, Jackson would likely step up. The swordplay and battles are as similar as most anything else that’s sent out each year. Nolan has not reinvented the wheel in that aspect. Likely he’s done it with how he made this picture. That’s a blessing and a curse.
The Odyssey is seamless, but how am I to recognize what’s done better here than what Jackson or Denis Villanelle has accomplished with their works? I guess I had to be on set. Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway and company testify to how astounding the experience has been. I choose to believe them though I can’t compound what was embarked. For example, the actors enthusiastically celebrate the director’s idea to have then perform speaking to the mirror image of their scene partners. The mirror was mounted next to the IMAX lens and thus reduced time and cost for reshoots with the bulky and expensive equipment. Something like that. See, I do not see the advantage of this technique when I’m sitting in the theatre. There it is, though. Amazing! Incredible! It can be the greatest hot dog I’ve ever savored. Yet, I never went to the sausage factory.
I know my enthusiasm does not measure up to what so many others are saying. The Odyssey is just an overwhelming picture. The storytelling seems all too familiar, and yet not everything feels completely clear and decipherable. Visually, it will always be stunning, even on a 55-inch flat screen. I wish Nolan offered more definition to the giant Cyclops (played by the master of mime and body manipulation, famed Ringling performer Bill Irwin who was TARS in Interstellar). The movie will easily sweep all the technical awards while only earning acting nominations for Morton and maybe Hathaway. Matt Damon earns recognition for exerting himself like never before in muscle mass. He’s only improved what he’s physically done in the Bourne films, for example.
This is a major hurdle that Christopher Nolan has elevated to, and a new bar has been set at a taller height. Still, this picture never stayed with me like his Dark Knight trilogy that covered everything from sensational action to questions of morality. His brainy science fiction challenged protagonists to extend themselves towards sheer impossibilities of comprehension like Inception, Interstellar, or The Prestige. Even a biographical story like Oppenheimer left me more emotionally consumed than The Odyssey, because the title character served as a puppeteered villain to everyone else, including himself internally. Odysseus leans on Athena for solace, played by Zendaya, serving as an imaginary friend to the hero. He’s marooned with Calypso (Charlize Theron) serving as a sounding board while Odysseus struggles to recollect the memories of his adventures. All the parts are here like a grocery shopping list, but the connections just don’t feel as warm as they were in Nolan’s other pieces.
That’s okay though. We all have our favorite flavors of ice cream. Just like we all have our favorite efforts of Christopher Nolan.
What’s this guy gonna do next? I cannot wait to find out because it’s never simplistic and always challenging with a sense of thrill and knowledge.
2 UNPAID MOVIE CRITICS!!!! 