I generally don't opine here about current or recent films, mainly because I believe a movie needs to resonate with multiple generations of audiences and critics to legitimately be called a classic—thereby aligning it with the name of this blog. It should hold up over many years, even decades. But with all the hype and ballyhoo surrounding the latest cinematic swing at harnessing Homer's The Odyssey, I felt compelled to break with protocol and take a few (figurative) pugilistic swings at this much-anticipated box office behemoth after seeing it in an IMAX theater this past weekend.
The historical epic has been suffering from shrinkage since the end of its peak era, the late 1950s–early 1960s, at least in part because of filmmakers' over-dependence on CGI, resulting in drab, mock spectacles with a dearth of color, pageantry, and humanity. The promotional catchphrase once associated with the genre, "with a cast of thousands," which for a few years was so commonly used it became a cliché, hasn't applied since the 20th century. So, hearing that the newest version of The Odyssey was shot on locations around the world, and that the special effects were mostly practical rather than computer generated, I had high hopes for this 2026 revisitation to Ancient Greece.
Alas . . .
Why I was Underwhelmed by The Odyssey* (Caution: Spoilers)
*Bear in mind that I hold modern actors, art directors, directors of photography, sound designers and mixers, technicians, set designers, screenwriters, producers, and especially directors to a higher standard than those of the distant past. They are, after all, standing on the shoulders of giants, and their work should reflect that.
- While the nonlinear storytelling in The Odyssey was effective (and probably necessary for this story), I had issues with the pacing and editing—issues I also had with Oppenheimer, director Christopher Nolan's previous blockbuster film. The chronically rapid-fire cutting was constant, exhausting, and at times seemed almost arbitrary. Very few shots, most glaringly during dialogue scenes, were held for more than two or three seconds, which was continually distracting. Many scenes weren't allowed to develop organically. It was almost as if this movie (as with my perception of Oppenheimer) was edited to hold the attention of 13-year-olds. Or Nolan didn't have faith in the screenplay (which he wrote), or he didn't trust his actors—or both—so he attempted to compensate by heavily leaning into these disconcerting, overused editing tricks and distractions. Consequently, there was a sense of dumbing-down and a rushed feel to the film, despite its nearly three-hour length.
- There was an excessive amount of expositional dialogue, mostly in the first half hour or so. Sometimes exposition is unavoidable, but The Odyssey bends viewers' ears with an onslaught of verbal elucidation to the point of cringe-worthiness. Movies are a visual medium; whenever possible, don't say it—show it.
- The acting was weak across the board. Matt Damon's performance was passable (at best) for the most part, but unmemorable—not exactly what you want in a representation of the original hero of Western literature. Just about everybody else's performances (with the occasional exceptions of Tom Holland's and John Leguizamo's) were cartoonishly over the top—particularly Robert Pattinson's, who might as well have been wearing the ancient Greek equivalent of a handlebar moustache and a top hat. Some of Anne Hathaway's sporadic bursts of emotion were borderline comical.
- The color palette was limited and dull overall, giving some sets and locations a one-dimensional, confined feel. Instead of including even a few scenes with splashes of more vibrant hues, if only to provide some contrast and a break for the eyes, the grayed tones were constant and monotonous. When Odysseus and his men were out at sea, why wouldn't a director take advantage of those beautiful, vast locations the film crew traveled so far to capture? Instead, as is the current trend in visual entertainment, most of the seafaring scenery was muted and chromatically blunted. Nolan had an opportunity to make this movie more of an epic, a spectacle in the grand sword-and-sandal tradition, but he very deliberately opted for a dreary, oppressive veneer. Yes, the effect was to serve a purpose* (this Odysseus carries a lot of guilt, suffers from PTSD, there's a dark, ominous anti-war theme running through the film, etc.), I get that. But it was too much of a bad thing. It was overdone and heavy-handed, like so much else in this movie.
*Nolan even stated in at least one interview that he didn't want his Odyssey to be like a 1950s or '60s film.
- The much-discussed use of modern American speech (in an effort to make The Odyssey's world seem more palpable and palatable to modern audiences) didn't work for me. It was just another distraction.
- This borders on nitpicking perhaps, but Odysseus' statement to his wife Penelope (Hathaway), near the end of the film, that "Our Bronze Age is collapsing" must be mentioned, even though it has already been thoroughly lambasted across social media. The Bronze Age, of course, was not called that until much later in history. It's kind of like someone saying, "Man, this World War I is really taking a toll on Europe" while the war is still going on. (Pedantic notation: It was called The Great War until a June 12, 1939 Time magazine article used the phrase World War I for the first time, nearly 21 years after that conflict ended.)
