“The Odyssey” is a film of colossal proportions! I was transfixed, and the 172 minutes flew by! The film is based on the oral poem/song by Homer created in the 8th Century, BC. Unless you have been living on Mars, you all probably know the basic story. Odysseus (Matt Damon), the King of Ithaca, is sent off to war against Troy by Agamemnon, the most powerful of the Greek Kings. Agamemnon is enraged since his wife Clytemnestra’s ultimately-beautiful sister, Helen (both played by Lupita Nyong’o), has either been abducted or perhaps even willingly ran off with Paris, from Troy. (Clytemnestra and Helen are twin sisters from the same mother, but different divine/mortal fathers.) If that wasn’t bad enough, Agamemnon’s younger brother and close friend of Odysseus, Menelaus (John Berthal), is married to Helen. Knowing this mission will take years, Odysseus asks Penelope to wait for him, but, if he fails to return, to remarry. Odysseus, with a large fleet of ships filled with soldiers, sieges Troy, but their walls are impenetrable. Odysseus gets an inspiration and devises the “Trojan Horse” scheme, but the soldiers burn, ravage, and plunder the city. This victory takes 10 years! Odysseus is wracked with guilt regarding violating “Zeus’ Law”: “Xenia” (which is a hospitality law about how to treat guests and strangers in your home – Nolan expands this law to be a universal human moral law, like the “Golden Rule”).
Meanwhile, back in Ithaca, Odysseus’ wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), is fending off numerous suitors who want to marry Penelope and then father a male heir who will eventually become king, displacing Penelope’s and Odysseus’ son, Prince Telemachus (Tom Holland). After defeating Troy, Odysseus and his men decide to separate from Agamemnon’s fleet and head South. Unfortunately, Odysseus encounters numerous obstacles, such as a one-eyed Cyclops, the Sirens, the witch Cerci (Samantha Morton), a whirlpool, etc. Many men on his crew die in these encounters. Odysseus eventually winds up on an isolated island with Calypso (Charlize Theron). He’s fairly happy with her, but can’t remember most of his past. I won’t elaborate any further on the plot.
Granted Odysseus had a rough time, but his travails were a “day at the beach” in comparison to my 20-or-so failed attempts to get a ticket on the 70mm IMAX screen at the Irvine Spectrum. I eventually “surrendered” and saw it on a smaller IMAX screen at AMC Tustin District at 9:00 am on Friday, and it was sold out!
My take: I think this is the best and most entertaining movie I have seen in years. I anticipate that it will win numerous Academy Awards. The cinematography and CGI are spectacular, the story is a timeless classic, and Matt Damon is terrific. He probably deserves an A.A. nomination for Best Actor. However, there are numerous criticisms (which I won’t mention), but I think they were all petty. It’s a movie, it’s entertainment, it’s not a documentary. Although, my close friend Mark was disappointed. He thought the acting was, at-best, mediocre and the film was “wooden.” I told Mark how could the movie not be “wooden” with (how David Crosby would sing) all the “Wooden Ships” in the film! This movie is a MUST-SEE on IMAX! See it before it sails into the sunset.
