Trying to follow 2023’s Oppenheimer was always going to be a tall order especially given that his next project was based on the Ancient Greek poem the Odyssey. The set up of the film is that Odysseus (Matt Damon) tries to get back to his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland) whilst Penelope is trying to stave off the potential suitors to be her next husband led by Antinous (Robert Pattinson).
Now there was a lot of rage bait articles making a big deal about Elliot Page being in the film as Simon (or just being in the film in general) and Lusitania Nyong’o (Helen) as well. The rage was always going to be over the top considering how people like to make a mountain out of a molehill but given that their combined screen time couldn’t have been anymore than 20 minutes in a near 3 hour film shows how people judging and criticising something before they have seen it in context is always going to be a foolhardy thing.
Matt Damon gives what I think is one of his best performances since The Martian. As Odysseus it is his story and Damon shows he is more than Ben Affleck’s buddy and this level of performance is not only in the same grouping as The Martian but also the Jason Bourne films. He doesn’t do anything as action packed as Jason Bourne but he is a great lead in the film and you want him to make it home just to stop Antinous. Anne Hathaway takes a rather simple role of and makes it interesting. Due to the fact that there are many stories being told, Hathaway (like Pattinson) doesn’t really get to shine until the latter stages of the film but she shines and does a great job. Robert Pattinson is great as Antinous and almost steals the show. It was funny that in one of the trailers was Dune Part Three where a bleach blonde looking Pattinson appears to be the villain but thankfully he doesn’t have that look here otherwise it would have ruined the movie. Pattinson can do smarmy and evil quite well and is a great antagonist for the film.
Tom Holland puts in one of his best non Spider-Man performances I have seen from him but he is still one of the weakest in the film but that is only because the standard of acting is so high. Up until the last shot when he is wearing all the fancy crown or whatever it was, he was believable as a young man determined to find his father and stop Antinous but then things go wrong when he tries to look like a ruler. It’s the curse of looking as young as he does and maybe with someone else it might have worked.
Samantha Morton comes into the film and attempts to steal the film. As Circe she turns this portion of the film into some strange Guillermo del Toro film where she morphs the faces and bodies of Odysseus’ soldiers into pigs and its just absolutely bonkers but if you want someone to give an unsettling performance then Samantha Morton is just as good as it gets.
Other notable names include Himesh Patel (Eurylochus), John Leguizamo (Eumaeus), Charlize Theron (Calypso), Mia Goth (Melantho), Benny Sadie (Agamemnon), Zendaya (Athena) and Jon Bernthal (Menelaus) are all great additions to the cast.
The film has an epic feel to it and Christopher Nolan is helped by Hoyle van Hoytema as cinematographer who makes everything look stunning and there are varying landscapes and they all look amazing. Also Ruth De Jong’s production design is great in every single scene and the editing from the amusingly named Jennifer Lame (cause there is nothing lame about her editing) all help create an epic world. Ludwig Goransson has delivered one of his best scores and I bought the soundtrack after I got home cause it was wonderful and works well when you are listening to it in the car going to work.
As much as I think that this is a great movie, I don’t think that it is as good as Oppenheimer but its pretty damn close. It is like comparing Alien and Aliens or The Godfather Part 1 and 2. They are on a the same level but one is always slightly better than the other. I think the story is made interesting because of Christopher Nolan but it was something that I was unfamiliar with and to make a three hour film (nearly) of a story that would have had me running in the opposite direction and make it my film of the year shows why Nolan is one of the best filmmakers working today. Only thing was I didn’t see it in IMAX but that is something I am intending on putting right if possible.
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