The Odyssey info:
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan and Homer
Starring: Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, and Robert Pattinson
Intro
Hello and welcome to the final week here at 1guysmindlessmoviereviews.com. This will be my last review… at least for a bit, as I concentrate my efforts on my new podcast venture. For those who haven’t checked it out yet, we have it available to watch or listen to on multiple platforms. YouTube is @2_Guys_Mindless_Movie_Podcast, and Spotify is https://open.spotify.com/show/033z6SxRIrgtGS8lZYziXi?si=5adca1b8390b49be. Please check out all of the mindless movie stuff going on over there.
In the meantime, I wanted to end on a high note. If you’ve been reading my stuff over the last few years, you know I am a big Christopher Nolan fan, so what better way to put this to bed than by reviewing his latest film, “The Odyssey”. But just in case you don’t know the story or haven’t seen the film, I will have spoiler galore in this, so you have been warned. For everyone else, come with me on one last journey.
The Odyssey recap
This is a very big story, and I don’t exactly know how to start, so let’s just jump into Odysseus (played by Damon). He is the King of Ithaca, and he’s been away from home for nearly 20 years. He and many others went off to war in Troy when his son Telemachus (Holland) was very young. Now, many years later, he still isn’t home, and there is much turmoil surrounding his unlikely return.
Lots of people think that Queen Penelope (Hathaway) should remarry, so their home is constantly full of suitors waiting to be picked before Telemachus comes of age. Penelope believes that her husband is still alive and keeps holding out. One suitor, named Antinous (Pattinson), is particularly important to this story as he thinks he is the frontrunner for this honor and is sort of a leader to the others.
Regarding Odysseus, this is when we get to start seeing all of the setbacks that he and his crew had on their journey home. After being in Troy for almost ten years and not knowing how to breach the wall. He finally came up with the idea of building the Trojan Horse. I don’t need to break down all of that; hopefully you know that story by now. After successfully taking Troy, they finally started back home.
Immediately, they are separated by the winds, and that divides the crew in half. From there, the Odyssey really begins as every stop along the way took out more and more of his men as they encountered a Cyclops, Sirens, a witch, a horde of giant soldiers, and even the wrath of the gods for disobeying direct laws. Eventually, Odysseus is the only one left, and he washes up on the shore of Calypso (Charlize Theron), who keeps him drugged and imprisoned there for another seven years.
Eventually, he makes it back home to Ithaca. He doesn’t immediately storm the castle, but instead, he lies low like a beggar so he can assess the situation. With the help of both his son and an old friend, Eumaeus (John Leguizamo), he plans to emerge as the king and retake his place. He talks to Penelope as the beggar and drops enough hints.
After Penelope finally decides to pick a suitor, she chooses Odysseus’s old bow as the challenge. If anyone can string that bow and fire it, they would be chosen. When no one can, he steps up, strings it, and then starts using it against them. After a great final battle, he is finally back with his family, and the suitors are no more. I know that was a quick recap, but I’m over 600 words already, and I want to leave room for my thoughts.
My thoughts on The Odyssey
As I mentioned before, I am a huge fan of Christopher Nolan, so I’ve been excited about this movie for quite some time. Against my best efforts, I also went into this with very high expectations. A lot of times when that happens, I get disappointed or find the movie wasn’t quite as good as I hoped. Thankfully, in this case, that didn’t happen. It didn’t just meet my expectations; it exceeded them.
I’ve seen a lot of discourse online about this film. Whether it was about casting or something else. People love to hate on good films that everyone else likes. Not sure if they do it just to lower the overall ratings or what, but either way, in this case I think this was great. “The Odyssey” has always been a fascinating story anyway, and I’ve read and seen enough about it to know most of the story. I loved the way Nolan brought it to life on the big screen. Personally, I thought the casting was spot on and Damon played the part of Odysseus as good as anyone could.
The movie as a whole was great, but each individual part was equally great in it’s own way. The Cyclops will haunt my dreams for years to come because it was so well done. Creepy as hell and the first real time you see our soldiers really in some trouble. I’m still not sure if I like that scene better or the Trojan Horse scene. The fact that I can’t decide is a good thing.
A little more about the cast. Apart from the ones already mentioned above, “The Odyssey” was loaded with stars. Elliot Page, Mia Goth, Benny Safdie, Himesh Patel, Zendaya, John Bernthal, and Lupita Nyong’o also helped fill out this amazing roster. As I said, I really don’t get the hate. I can easily see a few Oscar nominations being thrown this way early next year.
The last thing I want to discuss is the sound and picture. If you see this in IMAX, you will understand this, but what an experience! I’ve never heard sound like that in a movie before. It was enough to rumble my seat and really put me more into the film like never before. Also, since this was shot 100% with IMAX cameras, the visuals are absolutely stunning from start to finish. I could talk more about it, but you really need to see it for yourself to fully understand.
Overall, this is the movie I’ve been waiting for all year. I have little to no gripes about “The Odyssey” and how it was cast or filmed. Christopher Nolan knows how to make a movie, and he knows how to create an experience in the movie theater. So, for the first time in 2026 (and fittingly my last review), I happily give this a 10 out of 10!
Watch or wait?
If you are wondering where I stand, then clearly you haven’t read anything up till now. This movie was filmed for IMAX and 100% with IMAX cameras, so why would you not rush out to go see it in your local IMAX theater? As I’m writing this, I’m seriously thinking about going to see it again on a bigger IMAX screen that is about an hour drive for me. It would be worth it.
Ok, for one last time, it’s now your turn. Are you in the majority with me on loving “The Odyssey” or are you one of the few detractors who will think this is some AI-generated review because you don’t agree with it? Either way, please let me know your thoughts in the comments and for once… I will not be back next week with another mindless movie review.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read these. I hope to see you over on YouTube, Spotify, Rumble, TikTok, or wherever this journey leads us next. I appreciate your support of my little site, and we will talk again soon.
