Everyone’s opinions will differ, but the general consensus is that Christopher Nolan has never made an outright bad film. Ranking Nolan’s films from “worst” to “best” is pretty much an exercise in determining what’s good versus great, so it was always a safe bet that Nolan would deliver with “The Odyssey.” Still, the first reviews are out and as you can see in Looper’s video above, the movie is exceeding the already high expectations.
As of this writing, “The Odyssey” currently has a 98% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, with Looper’s own review of “The Odyssey” joining the chorus of praise: “‘The Odyssey’ is a visual feast and undeniably outstanding achievement in filmmaking that cements Nolan as one of cinema’s all-time greats, naysayers be damned.” Homer’s epic poem is a pillar of literature worldwide, and Nolan’s attempt to adapt it could be seen as an act of hubris on the scale of Odysseus taunting the cyclops.
But instead he seems to have succeeded beyond any advance hype. Many reviews give it a perfect score, like the 5/5 from Robbie Collin of The Telegraph. “Nolan and his collaborators have constructed a strange, fearsome and trailblazing machine of a movie — by some distance, the best of the year so far,” he wrote. Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent was similarly gobsmacked: “This is a blockbuster of literally unprecedented scale. It is also Nolan’s best work to date. It deserves to be the film that defines him.” The message is clear: Run, don’t walk to go see “The Odyssey” on opening weekend.
The Odyssey is a true cinematic epic
Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Studios
When you think of the most epic movies of all time, you probably think of “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Ben-Hur,” and even the more recent “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. But in a modern landscape of green screens and rushed VFX, it feels almost impossible to get that tactile nature back in a major motion picture. Yet it sounds like Christopher Nolan has done it with “The Odyssey.”
While there’s no shortage of acclaim for the film’s visuals, many were quick to praise Matt Damon’s work as Odysseus. Moira MacDonald of The Seattle Times wrote, “Damon’s performance finds some welcome transcendence at the end,” while Brian Truitt of USA Today suggested that an Academy Award could be in the star’s future: “Just give him the best actor Oscar now, for Zeus’ sake.” Damon didn’t just get ripped for “The Odyssey”; his haunting Odysseus has left an indelible mark on viewers.
One can go through all the reviews so far and find some minor quibbles, and more will surely materialize once the film is out for all to see. But one thing can be taken from this consensus: Nolan has given us all a reason to go to movie theaters again with something that demands to be seen on the big screen. As Danny Leigh of The Financial Times put it, “We live in an age starved of awe. It leaves quite a gap in the market for Christopher Nolan — long held to be the last giant in movies and uniquely able to spark that missing wonder.” Need more reasons to buy a ticket? Looper has assembled even more critics’ reviews in the video above.