Don't Call It An Adventure

Review — 5 out of 5 stars

Matt Damon (The Martian, The Bourne Identity) leads this historical epic alongside a star-studded ensemble cast in director Christopher Nolan's (Interstellar, The Dark Knight) adaptation of history's most archetypal heroic tale The Odyssey.

This film delivers powerful performances, stunning visuals, and rousing action at every turn from a cast and crew at the top of their game. Rather than depicting the events of the epic poem, this Odyssey explores the throughline connecting those events to the Fall of Troy, through the eyes of Odysseus. The gorgeous cinematography from Hoyte van Hoytema (Oppenheimer, Nope) is a feast for the eyes and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for those lucky enough to see it in IMAX 70MM.

Analysis — contains spoilers

In my review above I categorized this movie as a historical epic, a questionable classification since The Odyssey (the movie and the poem) features fictionalized versions of history. But I certainly would not call this film an adventure movie, despite being an adaptation of a story whose name is synonymous with adventure.

This story is so foundational to Hollywood storytelling that there are infinite ways to portray it in a feature film. Odysseus' adventure is the quintessential Hero's Journey, which has been emulated in every genre and style of film. In the hands of Christopher Nolan, The Odyssey is the story of a man who's lost his family and is tortured by guilt. Based on his previous movies, I probably should have expected that by now.

The film restricts its audience almost entirely to Odysseus' point of view, allowing us to understand this vision of Odysseus who carries guilt from his actions in the Trojan War and feels he's lost his way both physically and morally. The concept of Zeus' Law is an effective piece of worldbuilding that creates a moral framework for the film. Odysseus' spiritual journey is how he loses his moral center but finds it once again by accepting the gods' will and finally processing his guilt after running from it for ten years. It's that act of spiritual growth that brings Odysseus back to his long-awaited home.

Odysseus' spiritual journey is the focal point of this film, but as a result of this artistic choice, his physical journey is reduced to ten years of torment. The odyssey itself in this film adaptation of The Odyssey is functionally a series of sideshow horrors which serve the purpose of periodically adding to the pile of Odysseus' trauma in another lotus-induced flashback. Ironically these are the most compelling sequences in the film, each of them a technical masterpiece on their own. The cyclops, the sacking of Troy, and the Circe's island scenes in particular each feature visceral moments that define the film because they are depicting the most iconic events in its story.

Perhaps it's impossible to truly capture everything The Odyssey represents because it's such a historic and influential story. Christopher Nolan's fast-moving, rhythmic style competently delivers Odysseus' moral journey, but leaves most of his odyssey out of The Odyssey.

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