The Odyssey - Review
- Jack Aling
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
A Song of All the Promises I Failed to Keep.
Review written by Jack Aling
The Odyssey is directed by Christopher Nolan and written by Christopher Nolan.
Starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway & Robert Pattinson.
Odysseus, the legendary King of Ithaca, embarks on a long and perilous journey home following the Trojan War. Throughout his voyage, he is forced to confront the whims of gods, mythological monsters, and trials that stretch both his cunning and his humanity to the breaking point.
The most notable director of our generation takes on the most influential story ever told, presented in the largest possible film presentation. The stage is set for The Odyssey.
Christopher Nolan delivers a rarity in modern filmmaking - Event Cinema. Creating films that you plan your schedule around, gather your friends and travel to experience it on the largest screen as you can, as soon as you can. His dedication to his craft, with focus on practical and tangible storytelling, elevates any story he chooses, which only stands out more in a modern world of rushed CGI and lazy AI slop.
The scale of his latest project is unlike anything I've ever seen. Epic battle sequences, stealth sequences in caves lit only by candlelight, moments of horror, moments of love, moments of harmony and moments of betrayal. There are shots, simply showing a single boat and the vast emptiness of the ocean, that took my breath away. Every frame presented in IMAX 70mm creates an experience that will be impossible to forget.
An extensive cast are all performing at the top of their game, taking in being on a Nolan set. Matt Damon puts everything on the line as Odysseus, but every actor, regardless of the size of their role, commits fully, understanding the scale of the story being told.
What Nolan does so well with the collaboration of his cast, his cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, his editor Jennifer Lame, his composer Ludwig Göransson, (and his whole crew) is immersion. The way they craft this adaptation truly immerses the audience, taking them along for The Odyssey. You feel the haunting scale of what is at stake through the sheer size of the production, leaving you breathless and weary as you leave the cinema.
The most ambitious film ever made, bringing the greatest story of our time onto the world's biggest stage. Not just cinema - storytelling doesn't get much better than this.
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