REVIEW: ‘The Odyssey’: Christopher Nolan’s expansive and full-tilt meditation on war let down by generic dialogue and big-name casting
DUBAI: Christopher Nolan’s gargantuan full-IMAX retelling of Homer’s “The Odyssey” is an elemental and testosterone-fuelled undertaking, chock-full of gorgeous set-pieces and metaphysical ruminations that are typical for the auteur; but unfortunately, the sum of its parts do not make for a transformative watch, simply because the film is let down by its generic, modern dialogue, maddeningly inconsistent pacing and big-name casting.
However, where the film really soars is in its execution. “The Odyssey” is genuinely awe-inspiring in its vision and Nolan’s touch is felt in every scene and shot, complimented by cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema’s dramatic touch and Ludwig Göransson’s orchestral score, equal parts thrilling and moving.
Matt Damon as Odysseus and Zendaya as Athena. (Supplied)
Again, in typical Nolan fashion, more than the first two hours of the nearly three-hour long movie is told in non-chronological fashion, following Matt Damon’s Odyssyeus, the war-weary king of Ithaca, who has been away from his wife and son (Anne Hathway’s Penelope and Tom Hollan’s Telemachus) for almost two decades, the first 10 years of which he spent leading the war against Troy, at the behest of King Agamemnon (the mysteriously always-helmeted Benny Safdie) and his brother Menelaus (Jon Bernthal, sporting a ridiculous Brooklyn accent that immediately makes one feel like you’re watching a Marvel movie instead of a Homer epic).
