My Thoughts on Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey
It’s a truly impressive film. The scale was delivered exactly as I expected; it's a very strong visual trip, and maybe it even exceeded some expectations while falling short in others. When the 4K version comes out, I'll definitely rewatch it in top-tier quality.
First of all, the actors play their roles well. Robert Pattinson is one of the most memorable characters, while Matt Damon is convincing and perfectly conveys Odysseus's resilience. I honestly didn't expect the performance Tom Holland delivered.
I wasn't crazy about Penelope... Anne Hathaway has started using too much botox and plastic surgery, so I couldn't really be mesmerized by her beauty. Though, she and Tom Holland actually do look like mother and son... as for Matt Damon and Holland looking like father and son, I don't know what to tell you.
As for the other characters, nobody had significant screen time, and no one really stole the scene either. The actors playing Circe and Eumaeus are both good and their performances were solid. From Odysseus's crew itself, I can't really single anyone out. Also, Charlize Theron is Charlize Theron... Jon Bernthal was good, but to me, he's just the Punisher here too.
Agamemnon's costume is a serious aura farm. Even though Agamemnon really only has a one-minute dialogue with Odysseus, in this scene, behind the magnificent armor, you can see a broken guy, destroyed by his wife's betrayal. I like that Agamemnon advises him to return to Ithaca in disguise and assess the situation first.
In short, a lot of small details have been changed in the film in a way that, in my opinion, suited the story and the movie much better. For instance, the plot twist at the end that the form Athena appeared in was actually the face of the girl whose throat was slit in front of the shrine during the sack of Troy, which was his heaviest memory. So, it might just be his own conscience talking to him in the form of Athena, and the gods have nothing to do with it.
Generally, I like how they executed the idea of the film deliberately walking the line where it's unclear whether the gods are just personifications of natural events or actual real beings. Another detail I liked is that the story is narrated by Odysseus during his dialogues with Calypso; meaning, the audience's journey into Odysseus's story starts from this point, and this Calypso is feeding him lotus flowers like beans. This alone raises suspicions that the monsters and gods don't really exist, and all of this is just the traumatized imagination, or maybe even hallucinations, of a war veteran. On the other hand, you can bring up many counterarguments against this theory and point out, for example, that in the Hades scene, Odysseus learns information he physically couldn't have found out otherwise, which confirms that he really was in those places.
I also have to mention the Laestrygonians scene. Because it was done without heavy CGI effects, it looks extremely real and merciless. I don't know what other movie has such a massacre and slaughter; I seriously felt bad for them :D.
The music gives the film a special atmosphere and is definitely one of its strongest aspects. It's not Hans Zimmer, but it's something else and very original. They could have just used epic ancient Greek-style tunes throughout the whole film, but the music doesn't just fill the background; it tells the story itself and literally explodes in certain moments, fitting the scenes perfectly.
Each location has its own musical score. This is nothing new, but the Cyclops scenes sound heavy and oppressive. The scene was done very well, and there was this insanely loud screaming sound when he gets stabbed in the eye. But then, when he speaks, you can hear him cursing them, telling Poseidon, "They blinded me, take revenge, Father." Although, there were 6 of us guys there, and that was just the gist we got; none of us could normally understand the full sentence. When he speaks, you hear different voices in different tonalities, and I liked that detail—this Cyclops's name, Polyphemus, means "many-voiced," so these scenes definitely had their horror moments. The only thing I didn't like here is that Odysseus's cunning wasn't really shown when he tricks him, gets him drunk, and so on. It only shows in the part where he says, "Let's not slit his throat or we won't be able to get out," and honestly, you don't need to be a genius to figure that out.
Throughout the film, the melodies connected to Odysseus, Penelope, and Ithaca repeat and slowly merge into one another, which makes the emotion of their final reunion even stronger. The sack of Troy scene was well done, and I liked that everything was shown from Odysseus's perspective. Here too, the music is well-chosen for the intense scenes; for instance, the accelerated rhythm during the opening of the gates of Troy seriously tensed me up.
I could write a thousand more things, but I absolutely have to touch on the finale as well. If we compare it to the 2024 film The Return, the slaughter of the suitors scene is probably done better there, although here the episode felt more intense. Telemachus is portrayed as a pretty useless kid throughout the whole movie; while Odysseus is killing 100 men, this guy can't even handle one during that whole time. True, there is a moment in the film where he supposedly saves the situation with his actions, but still. By the way, it's also well-shown that initially, he wants to find out what happened to his father and look for him for more selfish reasons - because he actually just wants to be king himself. Its nolan's top 5 movies in my opinion.