Everyone is So Worried About the Quality of the Odyssey. What if it doesn’t matter?
Chris Nolan’s Odyssey will be one of the biggest movies of the year, without a doubt. It's grossed over 1.35 Billion in theaters so far, which narrowly beat out Deadpool for the largest gross of an R-rated flick ever. Critics care about it. Moviegoers care about it. Casual fans seem to be tapping in. Most importantly, the culture seems to be reviving the relevancy of the 2000 year old tale. This film will not, in my opinion, go down as one of the all time all time greats, but it’s a really rare feat and so fascinating. My stance falls somewhere in the middle compared to other critical reception. I liked the film, maybe not as much as some, maybe more than others. It seems that the general consensus is that the movie is at least good (or great, depending on your mileage) and at the absolute least a pretty monumental feat of production. Some may be inclined to be harsher on it (particularly if you’ve written a translation yourself). To me, how excellent the movie is doesn’t matter compared to how successful it is. So far, it’s on pace to be one of the most successful films of all time. What’s important here is what it shows about what movies can mean, and what they can do. Three reasons why.
One, it's a massive summer movie without superhero IP attached. This is big. Proving that big-budget, high-production-value films can work without a Spider-Man or Superman. Yes, they may need the safest hands both in front of and behind the camera. Yes, they need a story that people believe in, and that seems important or pushes the needle. But they don’t need capes.
Two, it's getting people talking and discussing a significant piece of literature, and the ideologies that are contained within it. This is good. One of the wonderful side-effects of making films based on novels is that the ideas in those novels can be analyzed differently. In this case, many critics have been able to rework their takes on Homer's tale. Nolan’s version has been criticized as unfaithful to the core principles of the titular character. Others have applauded the filmmaker for making an intensely watchable version and adapting the poem in a way that makes sense to audiences. Either way, we’re talkin! That’s what matters.
Three, it builds spectacle through practicality, not digital or AI editing. This is ethical. Audiences crave realness. There's more pride in it; it’s simply a more truthful way of doing things. One of the reasons the set pieces have landed so well is because they look SO real. It’s unclear if that’d be possible with AI, or heavy CGI.
Now, is the movie a masterpiece? Doesn’t quite get there for me. It’s certainly closer to being one on the visual front, vs. the plot, writing, and story fronts. The movie is the highest possible visual adaptation of the simplest, least intellectually stimulating version of the Odyssey. However, producing any coherent version of the Odyssey in a two and a half hour movie is a monumental achievement.
