Christopher Nolan's ambitious $250 million IMAX adaptation of Homer's epic poem, 'The Odyssey', has opened to a torrent of glowing reviews, positioning it as one of the director's most critically lauded works and a significant contender for next year's Academy Awards. Major UK newspapers, including The Guardian, The Independent, and The Telegraph, each awarded the blockbuster five stars, echoing the sentiment of critics across the Atlantic.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian commended the film's 'thrilling ambition, boldness, seriousness, generosity and flair,' despite some 'broad-brush moments in the dialogue.' Clarisse Loughrey for The Independent declared it 'Nolan’s best work to date' and a film that 'deserves to be the film that defines him.' Robbie Collin of The Telegraph described it as 'a strange, fearsome and trailblazing machine of a movie – by some distance, the best of the year so far.'
The Times' Kevin Maher lauded the production as 'a masterpiece in every way,' highlighting a 'palpable yearning for primal storytelling' that Nolan successfully delivers. From the US, Manohla Dargis of The New York Times found Nolan's passion for cinema evident 'in every frame of his monumental adaptation,' characterising it as 'one of the most Nolan of Nolan spectacles' for its thematic depth and kinetic energy. She added, 'Nolan asks us to dream bigger. His Odyssey is a classic in every sense, a transporting affirmation of the art and a work of pure cinema.'
While largely enthusiastic, some minor criticisms emerged. Guy Lodge, chief critic for Variety, praised the film as a 'genuinely grand, gutsy vision' that 'thrills generously for the bulk of its near three-hour running time,' but noted a 'slightly aloof, soul-skirting chill.' David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter echoed this, finding certain scenes, particularly those between Matt Damon’s Odysseus and Charlize Theron’s Calypso, to be 'dull interludes' that halted the narrative. Rooney also questioned the casting of Tom Holland as Telemachus and found some anachronistic language jarring.
Conversely, classicist Mary Beard, writing in The Times, defended the modern dialogue, calling the film 'brisk, pacy and contemporary' and an excellent introduction to Homer for many. However, Beard, alongside Emily Hauser in The Guardian, expressed disappointment over the characterisation of Odysseus, finding him less 'tricksy' and humorous than in the original epic. Both classicists also raised concerns about the omission or diminished agency of several key female characters, with Hauser specifically pointing to Nolan's portrayal of Penelope's role in the treatment of her enslaved woman, Melantho.