The Odyssey is Christopher Nolan’s relentless, deafening three-hour take on Homer’s epic poem, and while it is technically impressive filmmaking – Imax cameras; massive mechanical puppets, minimally pimped up by CGI; thousands of extras – it is set piece after set piece which becomes rather tiring. Even if weariness is part of the point of the Odyssey, it’s no excuse for the film being tiring.
Even if weariness is part of the point of the Odyssey, it’s no excuse for the film being tiring
What we get is an action blockbuster, without significant depth, although there is some heft to the final act – everybody’s favourite act, surely. Who doesn’t love it when Odysseus finally makes it back to Ithaca disguised as a beggar and no one recognises him? (I have always wondered if he was, perhaps, the inspiration for Mrs Doubtfire.)
I am no expert on the Odyssey but, don’t panic, the experts are sure to be all over it. Even before it was released, Nolan was being criticised for deploying modern vernacular (‘mum’, ‘dad’, ‘fuck off!’) and for some of his casting choices, like getting Lupita Nyong’o to play Helen of Troy. This, claimed Elon Musk, ‘desecrated Homer’. Shall I break it to him or will you? That Matt Damon, who plays Odysseus, is an American from the Cambridge, Massachusetts, area? Best you do it, I think. I’ve lost the appetite for such stupid arguments. Plus, Nyong’o is wonderful.
