The Odyssey

The Odyssey
Starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson
Directed by Christopher Nolan

Stories have existed since the beginning of time, and they've brought people together, torn them apart, brought peace and war, and ignited the imaginations of countless world changers. One of the most famous pieces of work is Homer's Odyssey, composed around the 8th Century B.C. and centered on the heroics of Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, who may or may not have existed, and tells of his long-suffering journey to make it back home to his wife Penelope before a new suitor took her for his own. The story has been told and re-told throughout the centuries and has been adapted numerous times in different movies and miniseries, and now Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan takes his shot at telling the story. Before it even premiered it was met with resistance from a group of small but vocal naysayers who have...let's just say unwholesome reasoning as to why they wouldn't like it, but once again he proves the detractors wrong by crafting an awe-inspiring film that hits every mark like Odysseus shoots his arrow.

Odysseus (Matt Damon) is the King of Ithaca and rules with his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway). He heads off to fight in the Trojan War, and by using the Trojan Horse he manages victory. However, on the journey home he majorly pisses off the sea god Poseidon, leaving him and his men wandering aimlessly in the unforgiving sea where they come into contact with all types of villainous creatures, men, and everything in-between. Meanwhile at Ithaca, as the years pass, suitors flood the palace in hopes of being chosen as the next king by Penelope, especially Antinous (Robert Pattinson), a slimy sociopath who easily manipulates those around him. Penelope's son Telemachus (Tom Holland) holds out hope his father will return and pleads for her to not re-marry, and sets out on his own to find out what happened. As the years keep passing and Odysseus remains lost at sea, hope dwindles that he'll ever return home again.

The first trailer for "The Odyssey" dropped almost a year or so ago, and anticipation has been building ever since. Anything Christopher Nolan has done recently has been met with audience and critical acclaim, and while there was little to no doubt "The Odyssey" would receive the same accolades, the last few months were met with a barrage of hatred from people online who, obviously, never even saw the movie. Still, they were dogging hard on the movie for certain choices that showed their own narrow-minded hatred as opposed to anything the movie could deliver.

One major outcry was with the casting. This is easily Nolan's most star-studded film to date with big name stars like Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Corey Hawkins, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Elliot Page, Lupita Nyong'o, Samantha Morton, John Leguizamo, Benny Safdie, Ryan Hurst, Logan Marshall-Green, Himesh Patel and Mia Goth all landing major (and sometimes surprisingly minor) roles. While it's obviously great to have a cast like this, it did kind of take me out of the story when all I could think about was, "wow, Anne Hathaway is giving a tremendous performance," or "wow, I can't believe how good Tom Holland is acting!" While that sounds like a detriment, it is actually high praise for the movie because each of these actors go above and beyond their already established career talents to offer something even more awe-inspiring. 

Still, the criticism here is threefold by those who hated the movie before its release. One was the lack of Greek or Mediterranean representation in the movie, since Homer was Greek and the story was about one of Greece's most iconic legendary literature characters. However, logistically speaking, there aren't a lot of Greek actors out there that could deliver the performances seen on screen, and it honestly didn't bother me because those performances were one of a kind.

The other two criticisms stem from racism and transphobia, as those small but vocal minorities claim they'd never see this movie because of the casting of Lupita Nyong'o and Elliot Page. Nyong'o plays both Helen of Troy and her twin sister Clytemnestra, and racists online called her "Helen of Detroit" because she was African American, and there's no way someone who looks like her could have a "face that launched a thousand ships." Yet the Oscar-winning actress is one of the most stunningly beautiful women in Hollywood with flawless ebony skin that exudes beauty. 

When it comes to Elliot Page being cast, the transphobic community were ruthless in their taunting, calling him "her" (since before his transformation he was Ellen Page) and claiming "she" was playing Achilles, and then all of a sudden the Brad Pitt-led movie "Troy" was labeled as the best movie ever made. Page doesn't play Achilles, but rather Sinon, a Greek soldier under Odysseus's command. For the scant time he's on screen, he delivers a compelling performance that proves the transphobic people wrong on every level.

Another pre-release complaint was the fact that it wasn't historically accurate, claiming some of the film's design choices are inconsistent with the Mycenaean period. Honestly, you don't normally go into a movie like this expecting to see pitch-perfect historical accuracy unless you're a history professor, but the general populous usually isn't deterred by such inconsistencies. The cinematography is exquisite, and the costume designs are impeccable (even though that's also received criticism due to how the look, but I think they're pretty darn good).  

Then there's the dialogue in the film, with many criticizing the use of American accents and using current vernacular such as "daddy" and numerous modern-day curse words. Again, this is a small gripe by a small but loud group of people who wish for nothing more than to make everyone else as miserable as they are, and if you really want accuracy in this movie, everyone would be speaking Greek. Again, this didn't deter me from enjoying the film to its fullest.

"The Odyssey" covers a multitude of genres and forms of storytelling as told with the typical Nolan flare - by telling it non-linearly. The movie hops from past to present and future that sometimes is hard to keep up with for some people, but others who know about Christopher Nolan's filmography already knew this was going to happen well ahead of time, and it helps add depth to the story as we see the Trojan War fought through different scenes that exposes more each time we re-visit it. There's also some epic horror moments such as their fight with an impressively-rendered CGI cyclops, their visit to the seemingly sweet Circe (featuring a scene-stealing Samantha Morton), and a scene that would make George Romero proud. 

Scattered throughout is the score, which is easily Oscar-worthy. Composed by Ludwig Goransson (who, at 41, is already a three-time Oscar winner with his scores for movies like "Black Panther," "Sinners," and Nolan's other work "Oppenheimer"), the movie foregoes the traditional orchestra you find in movies like this, but instead utilizes instruments that existed during the Bronze Age as well as bronze gongs, the lyre (which is used when Odysseus plucks his bow, and is absolutely soulful), and the aulos. 

While some people dislike the film for understandable reasons (I can always respect someone not liking something I like, and vice versa, as long as their logic is sound and not rooted in any deep-seeded anger), I found "The Odyssey" to be a visual spectacle that's easily one of Nolan's best in his illustrious career, a movie that's come closest to "The Lord of the Rings" in my opinion as a perfect movie.

The Score: A+