The Odyssey

For the longest time I have been a fan of Christopher Nolan's work, owning many of his films and enjoyed rewatching them. However, I have become more aware of his flaws over time but that hasn't stopped me from wanting to watch his work. The Dark Knight Rises is a very dud conclusion in his Batman trilogy, Tenet requires too many viewings and research to make sense, and there's an overall coldness even in his stronger work that hinders any emotional beats. And now he wanted to go even bigger than before with a sword-and-sandals epic by adapting Homer's famous story, The Odyssey. 

Nolan found huge success making a grounded Batman even if that meant removing the more fantastical elements. And then there's the more fantastical elements in Inception, Interstellar and Tenet where he goes to extreme efforts make them believable but there just isn't hiding a huge cyclops, sirens luring men to their death through song and Greek mythological gods. Would this be an uncomfortable marriage or Nolan be able to have his cake and eat it in a grounded adaptation? 

The story follows Matt Damon's Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, who has been away at war for years but, having brought victory to Agamemnon with the defeat over Troy, he hopes to finally return home with his men. All the while, his wife and son are surrounded by suitors who believe Odysseus isn't coming home and that a new king must take his place. But would should have been a quick journey home is then blighted by storms as Odysseus' men believe he has angered the gods. 

It is great to see sword-and-sandals action adventure genre back in cinemas having seen it gather dust for so many years. And what's more, The Odyssey has been a huge financial success which hopefully proves there is life still in the genre and that we might see more filmmakers draw inspiration from Nolan's achievements here.

As for the film itself, I really enjoyed a lot of The Odyssey and had no issue at all with its hefty 170 minute running time. Damon makes for a sturdy leading man and the surrounding cast are all great. Nolan also keeps his multi-stranded, non-linear narrative relatively tight as well so audiences will find this much more accessible than the likes of Tenet. Visually this is also top-notch and really benefits from the use of real locations over CGI backdrops in a studio. And the story is vey engaging throughout making this an entertaining take on Homer's work.

I watched this though with only a basic understanding of the source material and the more I learn, the more I can't help feel Nolan's choices might have once again hindered the story from really delivering an emotional impact. In the book, Odysseus wants to get home and will do whatever it takes. This then makes his journey all the more agonizing for how long it takes but that much more satisfying come the end. But here, Odysseus is missing that urgency and I feel it undercuts the final showdown. 

Nolan also removes the Greek gods from the story, similar to the 2004 action epic Troy, but still includes some of the fantastical parts from Homer's work. The result had me feeling underwhelmed as this will likely be Hollywood's biggest ever take on the story with a director who has carte blanche to go all out but who chooses to not offer the most faithful, definitive adaptation that is well within his power. It wouldn't have been Nolan's style to go all out but then I feel he was half-way there when he have giants, witches and sirens. One of the film's taglines was 'Defy the Gods' but it seems Nolan just chose to ignore. 

The Odyssey won't win any prizes for being the most faithful adaptation but that doesn't stop this from being a very entertaining film and one of his more digestible offerings. It's not all it could have been but Nolan has breathed new life into the genre and it is great to see him exploring new ground. For all my criticisms, I still had a very good time and it will find a place on my ever straining shelf of films.