Well, I just got back from The Odyssey.
NOW before we get up in arms, let me clarify:
This is a good historical(ish) fantasy film.
This is NOT an fantastic retelling of the Odyssey.
Let’s get some things out of the way. The cast, however talented, however seasoned, however capable, are still majority white. That is a hill that makes it frankly impossible for me to say it’s full-stop an amazing film. The costumes are…laughable at times. Agemmemnon IS dope as hell, but Telemachus can’t seem to decide if he’s a prince of Ithaca or a prince of Disney. Lastly, Odysseus is not Odysseus. Do not go see this film wanting the man who taunts a cyclops. You will be sadly disappointed.
Or maybe, like me, you’ll try to watch it detached from Homers epic and watch it just as a film. If you are watching it just as a film, it’s incredible. The score breathes a lot like the PHM soundtrack does. The plot points that do make it into the film are given ample time and space without being drawn out. There are INSANE practical effects, and the non-linear storytelling (a nod to the original work,) means the whole narrative hits in the right spots so that by the end you are as invested in Odysseus’ return as Eumaeus.
And that is basically what the film is. It’s a nod to the original work. It’s a very deep nod, maybe more like a bow, but it isn’t The Odyssey. Odysseus isn’t a trickster, the Gods are practically absent, and Penelope gives up hope. It is not the story we love. On its own, it is still a good story. Odysseus is a man whos core belief is honest justice, the Gods are forces of nature, and Ithaca is actually largely the same as Homer wrote her. The difference is the man who gets there, and how he gets there, are both shaped by what feels like inevitable tragedy rather than human hubris and the wrath of the Gods. Despite the fatefulness of it all, he will come home, there will be justice, and he will honor his men.
It isn’t The Odyssey and I wish Mr. Chris would quit saying it is. It’s an original work put on the bones of another, and for being that, it’s really good.
