Christopher Nolan The Odyssey finally completed its first tour in front of the critics, and the early reaction is: get the biggest screen near you.
The initial public reaction to Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s epic came after the film’s London premiere and early press screenings. The film, shot entirely with IMAX film cameras, opens in theaters on July 17.
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That last part isn’t just marketing copy. The Odyssey is the first feature film to be shot entirely with IMAX cameras, and Nolan’s commitment to moderation seems to be a big part of the initial discussion. The nearly three-hour film was shot in six countries, including Morocco, Greece, and Iceland, with real ships, realistic effects, and large crowd scenes. Matt Damon, who stars as Odysseus, called the experience “the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
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The film follows Odysseus after the Trojan War as he tries to return home to Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and their son, Telemachus (Tom Holland). By the way, because this The Odysseythere are gods, monsters, witches, trials, punishment, and the kind of adventure that has plagued high school English students for generations.
Zendaya plays Athena, and the ensemble cast also includes Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, John Leguizamo, Jon Bernthal, Samantha Morton, Himesh Patel, Elliot Page, and Benny Safdie.
Early reactions suggest that Nolan is completely dependent on the fantasy and the machine needed to feel big, with a balance that matches the scale around you. Holland, Damon, Hathaway, Leguizamo, Pattinson, and Nyong’o all received praise for their performances.
Mashable Trend Report
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For online moviegoers, the first reaction is exactly what they expected to hear.
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Not all reactions are around you The Odyssey he has been shining. Before the first critical reaction came, Nolan’s film had already become the latest blockbuster to be drawn into an online battle of casting, historical accuracy, and what counts as fidelity to a centuries-old text.
Some backlash focused on the film’s ensemble, including Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy, Elliot Page as Sinon, Himesh Patel as Eurylochus, and Travis Scott as the bard. Right-wing commentators have accused Nolan of modernizing the story too much, with Elon Musk repeatedly criticizing the film’s acting and saying Nolan “scorned” Homer’s epic to appeal to awards voters, prompting a response from Tom Holland (a historian, not an actor).
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Other complaints were about the film’s appearance and language, including costumes that some viewers called anachronistic, American accents, and Holland Telemachus referring to Odysseus as his “father”. Nyong’o, meanwhile, defended Nolan’s approach, saying she supports “the version of the story he’s telling” and that the cast “represents the world” in a recent interview. Notably, Nolan cited Emily Wilson’s 2017 modern interpretation of the Greek epic as one of his many inspirations.
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All of this popularity, good and bad, comes with unusually high expectations. The Odyssey Nolan’s follow-up Oppenheimerthe 2023 blockbuster that won Best Picture and turned the narrative, three-hour drama about J. Robert Oppenheimer became a true pop culture phenomenon (with a little help from Barbie). The Odyssey it cost $250 million to make, and box office forecasters expect it to open between $80 million and $130 million in the US and Canada.
The hype builds for a long time. Select IMAX tickets go on sale a year in advance and are snapped up fast. Now that the first reactions are out, the message from critics and film journalists is unanimous: This is not a movie you should watch half-heartedly on a laptop while answering emails.
Odysseus may be trying to get home, but we’ll be making a trip to the nearest IMAX.
