OP-ROB RATING: STARTER

For how many prolific and established directors can you say: “I have seen every one of their movies”? I’d wager not that many, if any at all. Even film-buffs that worship directors with relatively limited filmographies might be missing one or two. This holds true for me with Stanley Kubrick; his earliest movies “Fear and Desire” and “Killer’s Kiss” lie buried in my watchlist, along with “Lolita”. I thought about this before seeing “The Odyssey”, released just this week in Japan. Because without any particular zeal, I have stumbled into seeing all thirteen of Christopher Nolan’s movies. I point this out because most people from my generation are steeped in Nolan. Almost everyone has seen “Inception” and “Interstellar” and at the very least one of his “Batman” trilogy. Count for yourself, and I bet you’ve unknowingly covered more than half of the Nolan canon. I think it’s fair to say that we all have a “relationship” of sorts with his work. That widespread familiarity is rather remarkable.

Something else remarkable about Nolan is that he has yet to direct a true-blue stinker. All thirteen Nolan features are above average and worth watching. Some are great, and have defined movie-going for large swathes of Millennials and Gen Z’ers. Another remarkable Nolan trait is his diverse mastery of the big-budget “event” movie. He’s done dynamic thrillers, superheroes, historical epics, and high-grade sci-fi.

“The Odyssey” is his rendition of Homer’s mythological epic of the same name. And just like the director, it is a story that the vast majority of us have some sort of relationship with, either through a Western education or childhood interest (like Microsoft’s Age of Mythology).

Before getting into the movie itself, two “off-limits” items must be discussed. First, and perhaps most importantly, this is not a fidelity critique. I am not a homeric scholar. Any liberties that Nolan took with the source material will not be authenticity checked. Second, the scale of Homer’s story is such that the nearly 3-hour run time is entirely necessary (I’d even argue that a Part 1, Part 2 approach would have allowed for each side quest to get proper rendering). “The Odyssey” is a long movie. It is what it is, and complaining here would be unfair. Though, I do yearn for the return of the glorious INTERMISSION in 2.5+ hour films.

So how is “The Odyssey”? As an experience, it’s enthralling; the excitement was palpable packing into an IMAX theater to see Hollywood’s “biggest” director take on one of the greatest stories ever to come out of the West! A lot of hoopla has been generated around how “The Odyssey” was shot entirely with IMAX cameras, and made with arduous special effects à la “The Lord of the Rings”, rather than relying on cheaper CGI tactics. The technical hype is well-earned. The costumes, set pieces, landscapes, sound design and overall attention to detail is astounding.

And yet… for as impressive as “The Odyssey” is as a feat of cinema, I left the theater with a rather tepid impression. Why is that?

For one, the lead performances from Matt Damon (Odysseus), Anne Hathaway (Penelope), Tom Holland (Telemachus) and Robert Pattinson (Antinous) all felt a little… generic. This can be a problem with mega-stars. They sometimes aren’t able to inhabit a role with enough nuance as to be “reborn” in the eyes of the audience. All four leads fail to break through. You’ve seen this version of all of them before. This is Damon in “The Martian”, Hathaway in “The Dark Knight Rises”, Holland in “Spider Man: Brand New Day”, and Pattinson in “The King”. In particular, Damon’s Odysseus was problematic for me. He plays the role with a softness and lack of confidence that, while part of the narrative, was immensely underwhelming. We see him hesitantly encounter all of these different trials and tribulations, and he regresses into this sad shell of a once great leader. Odysseus’ character development follows this tack for the first three-fourths of the film, and then takes a round-turn at the very end. The 180 feels shallow. Indeed, Odysseus’ vengeful return home would have been the logical place for the “Nolan adrenaline-shot” moment of hair-raising excitement (think the end of “The Dark Knight”). But the overall approach to the character robs that much desired crescendo of its pluckiness.

In the same vein as the above, Nolan’s highlighted moral takeaway fails to stir emotion. The takeaway? It is the violation of Zeus’ Law or xenia. The law is essentially a “treat your neighbor as yourself” statute between hosts and guests, and vice versa. Odysseus, via his “Trojan Horse” scheme, has violated a golden principle. His guilt is the crux of the story, and the keystone of his personal realization at the end of the movie. While that’s all fine and dandy, are we really going to choose xenia as the primary touchpoint for our heroic main character? Not bravery? Or loyalty? Or resilience? Or any number of other stirring virtues? Odysseus is as rich a character as in all of Western literature. It is deeply confusing to me why Nolan pinpointed xenia as the concept with which to illuminate his version of Odysseus.

It is not as if there aren’t other elements to the story and character development in this long, long movie. There are. But themes like military leadership, honor, faith, and survivor’s guilt are little micro quests within the broader xenia narrative. In the end, “The Odyssey” is big and beautiful: as much a work of art to be found in a museum as it is a start-studded blockbuster to be experienced in IMAX. It’s worth your time for the spectacle, if not for the meaning. The film feels like a grandiose ticker-tape parade for someone that never quite found their way home.

Highlight of the Game: Give me more of Agamemnon (Benny Safdie) and Clytemnestra (Lupita Nyong'o)! Agamemnon mostly appears as a silent, symbolic character. It is only when Odysseus makes a pit-stop in Hades that Agamemnon’s “shade” recounts the story of his own ill-fated homecoming. The subsequent flashback incorporates details from earlier in the movie. The sequence is exquisite. Tacking on one more, the dynamic between Menelaus (Jon Bernthal) and Helen (also Lupita Nyong'o) is worth spotlighting. We all know the backstory, and both actors deliver a compelling authenticity to a very awkward union.

Player of the Game: I would say Wolfgang Petersen’s 2004 Iliad adaption, “Troy”. It beckoned a rewatch after “The Odyssey”. The Brad Pitt helmed epic has some great moments. Notably, the battle sequences. However, “Troy” makes a bunch of goofy mistakes that sully the overall experience. Just like Odyssey, Iliad is a dauntingly large story. “Troy” spends a lot of time nodding to different details, while doing very few of them justice. It leads to some laughably bad plugs and severe source material spoilage, along with way too much explanatory dialogue. There is no doubt that Nolan took notes, and successfully avoids taking the same missteps.

Costly Turnovers: Firstly, there’s Travis Scott. His character is so minor that you can see ~50% of his screen time in the theatrical trailer alone. But I have complaints. I get what Nolan is trying to do. Rappers are our modern-day bards? Okay, hip take I guess… We’re going with Travis Scott though? Was Nas not available? Or better yet, legitimately accomplished actors like Method Man or RZA? Missed opportunity in my book. Plus, it was torture sitting through the end credits getting my ears blasted by Scott’s gurgly trap song When I’m Home. Next we have Elliot Page, the subject of much fuss in the news and on social media. All I will say is that Page’s performance as Sinon is a little distracting. Sinon’s role is important to the final showdown between Odysseus and Antinous, but it feels very manufactured. Their performance is fine, but Page does look sorely miscast against a field of largely brawny, heavily bearded Greeks. Page’s brief presence does not warrant the significant backlash (Sinon is NOT Achilles), but there is some merit to the outcry.