Following Monday night's world premiere for Sir Christopher Nolan's eagerly anticipated The Odyssey, critics have praised the movie as 'an absolute triumph', 'staggering' and 'a filmmaking feast'. While full reviews are embargoed until July 15, initial impressions flooded online after the social reaction embargo lifted following the film's unveiling at two separate IMAX cinemas in London.
Stellar Cast and Epic Scale
Starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Charlize Theron, Samantha Morton, Elliot Page, Himesh Patel, John Leguizamo and many others, the film adapts Homer's 8th century BC epic – a bedrock of classical literature rarely translated for cinema. Off the back of Nolan's biggest Academy Awards haul to date with Oppenheimer (seven Oscars) in 2024, the director has kept The Odyssey carefully under wraps, only teasing a tiny portion of Damon's journey in trailers. But fans needn't have worried, with the ambitious latest delivering on all fronts according to those who've seen it.
Critical Acclaim
Fandango's Erik Davis called it 'an absolute triumph and a crowning cinematic achievement from one of the great filmmakers of our time', praising the 'breathtaking' action and scale, and noting that Pattinson as villainous suitor Antinous 'absolutely stole the show'. Time Out's global film editor Phil de Semlyen tweeted: 'Believe the hype(rbole): The Odyssey is that film. Dense but accessible, packed with career-best work from the stacked cast – Samantha Morton is extraordinary – it's a dizzying mix of craft and spectacle that's built to last.'
Metro's film reporter shared: 'This feels like watershed filmmaking. Simultaneously the most Christopher Nolan movie ever while being completely different to anything he's done before. Simply epic.' Collider's Perri Nemiroff wrote: 'The Odyssey is a filmmaking feast. A grand and gripping rendition of Homer's epic, and one that feels uniquely Christopher Nolan. It's sincerely hard to imagine any other filmmaker on the planet being able to bring that source material to screen with this much scale, scope and heart.'
Mixed but Enthusiastic Responses
IndieWire's chief film critic David Ehrlich observed: 'A surprisingly natural (and less despairing) Oppenheimer follow-up about a man haunted by defying the gods and dooming civilisation – this one fights to avenge his own hubris', though he noted it was 'too clunky to be S-tier Nolan, but the last act rewards the journey'. LA Times film editor Joshua Rothkopf added: 'Earthy, ghostly, weighty, touched by humour and grandeur alike. It's pure cinema.' The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey said: 'As someone who has always been obsessed with the ancient world but has never had particularly strong feelings about Christopher Nolan… I am genuinely gobsmacked at how good The Odyssey is.'
Premiere Event and Technical Achievement
Monday's premiere took place with a themed blue carpet and replica Trojan horse in London's Leicester Square, before the cast and creatives introduced The Odyssey at the BFI IMAX in Waterloo. Nolan paid tribute to the cinema as a 'very special venue for us', given it was where he first met his late friend and IMAX mentor, David Keighley, who died after working on the film. The Odyssey is the first film in history to be shot entirely on IMAX film cameras. The Odyssey will release in cinemas on Friday, July 17.
