Director Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer, Inception) has brought the classic poem by Homer to life as a film version of The Odyssey, and the result is a thoroughly ambitious spectacle of filmmaking at its most impressive.
Odysseus (Matt Damon) is the king of Ithica and plans to conquer the formidable city of Troy through trickery with a wooden (Trojan) horse. His return journey will engulf years while his wife and queen, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), begins to lose hope amidst a bevy of romantic suitors including the scheming Antinous (Robert Pattinson). Odysseus’ young son, Telemachus (Tom Holland), becomes a man and is desperate to find news of his father. While Ithica is without its king, Odysseus and his brave warriors must face harsh weather and seas, deadly islanders, and even sinister, magical forces. On this perilous journey, loyalties will be tested, and he will realize some truths about his kingdom and his family.
No doubt, Nolan has been influenced to a degree by Stanley Kubrick and classic films like Jason and the Argonauts and Ulysses by mounting a big budget production of immense scope utilizing clever, practical effects, a resounding score, and a dream cast. This film melds wizardry and an obsessive quest that perhaps, most importantly, encompasses self-redemption amid the carnage, sacrifice, and loss. Further, Nolan famously bends his narrative timeline by flashing back and forth among events to methodically fill in the storyline beginning with the taking of Troy.
As
the first film to be shot entirely in 70mm IMAX, this is a grand
adventure (at 172 minutes) with elements of suspense and horror that beckons the
audience on a visceral, sensory experience amid carefully composed vignettes,
that is well-acted especially by a totally committed Damon. Destined for Oscar glory.
*****
Of ***** stars (A must in IMAX)
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