The Odyssey Review: Nolan Delivers a 70mm IMAX Epic
Matt Damon is going to win an Oscar for this performance, and it will be well deserved.
I saw the movie on July 17 at 11 p.m. at Cineplex Cinemas Vaughan, in 70mm IMAX, as Nolan intended.
Going into the movie, I was extremely excited. As someone who appreciates both good filmmaking and history, I was intrigued to see one of the most innovative directors of all time, Christopher Nolan, present his adaptation of Homer’s tale. It is genuinely one of the most important pieces of literature in human history. I was also excited because of my love for the superhero genre and what Nolan has already accomplished within it.
There were two main reasons I had such high hopes for this film. First, Nolan proved to me at a young age that he could create a magnificent spectacle based on an original idea when he gave us Inception. The second reason is his pre-Inception work on The Dark Knight Trilogy, where he proved that he could take elements from existing intellectual properties and completely transform them. His use of Batman: Year One and other Batman stories, combined with his own creative twists, is what makes his trilogy not only the best superhero trilogy ever made, but one of the greatest trilogies in film, period.
Before I get into the acting, which was A1, I have to praise the sound and visual teams. Great performances are expected from Nolan because he consistently gets greatness from good actors and flawlessness from great ones. However, the technical teams deserve just as much recognition.
The sound team worked like the rent was three months past due and they were on the verge of discovering El Dorado. During the many sailing scenes, the sound design made it feel as though you were actually on the boat. When the men discovered that they were trapped in a cave with a Cyclops, you could feel the tension. When Odysseus and his men stormed Troy, you felt the rush as they darted into the city and took over.
The visual team also left no crumbs. Nolan’s commitment to practical filmmaking paid off through the locations, sets, and props. The Trojan Horse, in particular, looked amazing and added to the scale of the film.
Matt Damon absolutely killed it. I already knew he was a great actor because of his earlier work in films like Good Will Hunting, The Bourne Identity, and one of my personal favourites, The Departed. However, his performance as Odysseus may be the best role he has ever taken on.
His ability to portray a leader of men, a lost man, and eventually a jaded leader, all within the same movie, deserves serious praise. I am stamping it right now: Matt Damon is going to win an Oscar for this performance, and it will be well deserved.
The next actor who really stood out to me, despite having a much smaller role, was John Leguizamo as Eumaeus. John gave one of the most believable performances as a blind man that I have seen since Jamie Foxx in Ray. The way he moved and navigated his surroundings genuinely felt like someone who had learned to rely on his other senses.
I could go into depth about every performance, but I will hold off and give a few quick honourable mentions instead.
The illustrious Queen Anne Hathaway killed it as the Queen and war widow. Tom Holland was solid, while Robert Pattinson delivered an excellent performance as the antagonist. I would love to see Pattinson take on more roles like this, especially if we do not end up getting The Batman Part II.
Zendaya as Athena and Charlize Theron as Calypso were both great. Despite having limited dialogue, they were still able to make the audience feel strong emotions. I especially liked the shot of Athena’s statue having its head chopped off. It demonstrated the brutality of the moment without needing to show excessive gore.
Lastly, one of my favourite characters throughout the film was Iddo Goldberg as King Amphimedon. The character barely speaks, but his presence is always felt, especially during the invasion of Troy. I know this word gets overused a lot, but his character was genuinely the definition of aura.
To keep this review relatively short, I will end it here. I give the movie a 9.5/10, but it needs a rewatch before it can receive a perfect score. I do not rate anything a 10/10 after the first watch.
