Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” Is a True Big-Budget Hollywood Spectacle

Troy has fallen, the war is over, and the Greeks have prevailed. Now Odysseus leads his men back home, but not before making a few pit stops. Cyclops, Sirens, and the Trojan Horse are all here in Christopher Nolan’s adaption of one of the best-known adventures of all time.

Matt Damon as Odysseus in The Odyssey. Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

The Odyssey is thought to have been created by Homer around the late 8th century BC—the same century as the founding of Rome (753 BC) and the first Olympic Games (776 BC)—which makes the poem over 2,700 years old. The epic has been translated over 60 times in English alone, and the fact it has only been adapted for film and TV a handful of times is honestly a little shocking. One of the most notable is O Brother, Where Art Thou? by the Coen brothers, which takes place in Mississippi during the Great Depression and is more “inspired by” The Odyssey opposed to being a true adaption. The most recent was the 2024 film The Return starring Ralph Fiennes, a low-budget independent film that covers the final portion of the story focused on the less fantastical elements of the poem. So, it’s fair to say that we were long overdue for a big-budget retelling of the adventures of Odysseus, and that’s exactly what Christopher Nolan set out to make.

The budget for Nolan’s film was around $250 million. That matches his previous highest film budget, for the final installment of his Batman series, The Dark Knight Rises. The number illustrates the massive growth his career has seen since his debut feature-length film as an indie filmmaker, Following (1998), which had a budget of $6,000. He has advanced to a whole new realm of filmmaking since his early years and become one of the most popular directors of the 21st century.

Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

Since The Odyssey is an epic, it seems fitting that the film’s budget would match that scale. In many ways, I was reminded of the type of moviemaking we saw during the ’90s and 2000s with films like Braveheart, Gladiator, and, of course, Troy (based on Homer’s companion poem, The Iliad). It was this nostalgia, alongside the spectacle of the adventure, that kept me highly entertained throughout the nearly three-hour run time of this film. Each obstacle faced by Odysseus (Matt Damon) feels interesting, mysterious, and fresh compared to depictions in previous films. We have seen many versions of a Cyclops throughout film history, but Nolan’s reimagining is unique and very memorable. A scene with the witch Circe stood out to me as well because of how creepy it was—much more off-putting than I expected from a big-budget blockbuster. I also enjoyed the flashbacks of Odysseus and fellow soldiers using the iconic Trojan Horse during their attack on the city of Troy.

Between the many scenes of war and adventure, we follow Odyseus’s son Telemachus (Tom Holland) as he deals with a horde of suitors looking to marry his mother Penelope (Anne Hathaway) to become king of Ithaca. Antinous (Robert Pattinson) is one of those suitors and represents the lead antagonist. While these scenes are not action packed, they were still compelling enough to hold my interest, and they do a great job at setting up the ultimate climax of the story. All in all, the film reached my expectation for entertainment, which is really the biggest goal for a film like this.

Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Tom Holland as Telemachus. Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

One tactic used to make The Odyssey as epic as possible was Nolan’s beloved IMAX camera. This is the first feature film to be shot solely on IMAX, and it does provide a unique viewing experience, especially if you watch in an IMAX theater, which is the way I experienced it. The larger format has often been used in the past to accentuate grand locations and vast scenery mixed within more traditional aspect ratios. Having the entire film use the taller aspect ratio allows every location and scene to feel expansive. This is particularly effective when presenting endless oceans, sprawling beaches, and towering cliffsides. While I’m unsure how this will translate to a traditional theater screen, it did provide a more immersive viewing for me, and I feel it’s well worth watching at a movie theater opposed to streaming at home.

Matt Damon as Odysseus and Zendaya as Athena. Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

Despite the high level of entertainment, Nolan’s old-school Hollywood production doesn’t come without downsides. There were numerous elements feel somewhat dated when compared to more modern renditions of fantasy stories. I can’t help but compare this film to Game of Thrones, since that series is a benchmark for modern fantasy productions, and combat is one good example of this difference in style. While in Game of Thrones combat felt gritty and realistic, in The Odyssey it feels staged and choreographed. Now, I’m not saying it’s awful by any means, but it did take me out of the world somewhat and made action scenes feel less believable.

Another factor is the large number of A-list actors in the film. Beyond those I’ve already mentioned, there are so many recognizable faces here, including Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page, and John Bernthal—all of whom are side characters with very small amounts of screen time compared to the main cast. Again, this is not inherently a bad thing, but when you see an actor on screen that you know well, it’s easy to be reminded of all of the other movies you’ve seen them in, which is another way you can be taken out of the world. And with over a dozen major Hollywood stars, it really started to get distracting for me.

Robert Pattinson as Antinous. Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

One other aspect of the film that took a while for me to adjust to was the modern dialogue and American accents. We are so used to hearing older dialects and British accents in our fantasy films media, so it’s pretty jarring to hear anything different. Of course, for this Greek source material, a British accent in English isn’t any more accurate than an American one, but it does feel a little odd to hear. Nolan’s main reference for the adaption was Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation of the original poem, which makes the dialogue much more modern and accessible for its readers than many previous versions. Nolan decided to follow this approach with the film’s dialogue, which is why it feels modernized. Again, I understand the logic, but it doesn’t make it any less unfamiliar and distracting. Eventually, I was able to look past it, but I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t have preferred a more “traditional” approach.

The Odyssey is honestly something of an enigma of a film. It feels old-school in its production, but modern in its scripting and dialogue. It feels nostalgic, but also dated. But at the end of the day, it is entertaining, and it does justice to one of the most iconic adventures ever written. It’s completely worth seeing in a theater (IMAX if possible), and it’s an enjoyable spectacle despite what didn’t work for me.

Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures