THE ODYSSEY MOVIE REVIEW

[00:00:00]I would call this the greatest daddy stepped out for a gallon of milk and never came back story ever told.

[00:00:13]The Odyssey released this past weekend in 2026 and is directed by Christopher Nolan, who's also directed such films like Oppenheimer, Tenet, Inception, The Prestige, Interstellar, and The Dark Knight Trilogy. And this film along with thousands of other extras is mainly starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron. Queen Penelope's castle has been overrun by potential suitors trying to win her hand in marriage because the king of Ithaca, Odysseus, went off to fight in the Trojan War and never returned even long after the war had ended. So, The Odyssey tells the tale about how his son, Telemachus, tries to find out what happened to him while we look through Odysseus's eyes why it took so long for him to get his ass back home. And this is based on the Homer poem, song, legendary story that has been around for thousands of years.

[00:01:11]So, I feel like it's okay to talk about the events of this film because the source material has been out for so long, I don't need to say things like spoiler alert because we should already know this, right? This is Odysseus and this is the story about him going up against the Cyclops and the Sirens and Circe, the evil witch that turns all of his people into pigs. And then Calypso, who falls madly in love with this dude and keeps him on her island for 7 years. And then he finally makes it back and he shoots the arrow through the axe and he kills all the suitors and everything. That's the story. At least that's how Homer tells it and that's how Odysseus would like us to believe that's exactly what happened. I mean, this is back in old Greek times where we had Zeus and Athena and Hades and all these gods because we can't understand the scientific nature of things so we attach mythical legendary gods to things to explain stuff. That's why stories like this exists. If we look at at what actually happened during those times, what probably happened is after the Trojan War, Odysseus was like, you know, I need to sow some royal oats of mine.

[00:02:22]I'm going to go off and just party like crazy, have relations with all of these women, hang out with all of these dudes, get all of this treasure from all these places, then I'll go back home if I want to. And then when he comes back to his queen, he's like, "Oh, babe, you wouldn't believe the journey that I just had. There was this Cyclops, man, and then like this goddess, like she fell in love with me and she kept doing me for like 7 years. Like like I had no choice, man. I was drugged up, seriously." Yeah, everyone in my mind back in old Greek times sounded like they were from California and they were surfer dude. I don't care. That's probably what happened, but you know, the romantic in all of us, the person who wants to believe in all of this Greek mythology stuff, we believe that this is the version of the story that actually happened even though logically it was probably the other thing and he was like, "I don't want to go home until I absolutely have to." This is the more action-packed epic story that we prefer.

[00:03:24]And that's the word here, epic. This film directed by Christopher Nolan is just that. It is epic in scale, in production, in cinematography, in the acting that we have here.

[00:03:38]Everyone is stellar. There is not a terrible performance amongst any of these people. That's saying a lot for me. I'm not the biggest Anne Hathaway fan, but you know, the things that I like her in the most are Christopher Nolan films. And once again, her as Queen Penelope, it just blows you away. Matt Damon could tell you he puts his body through all of this rigorous training to become Odysseus, and then just the immense shooting schedule for his character alone. This is one of the greatest roles that he's ever performed in. Tom Holland is showing us again that he is a terrific actor on the rise. Yes, he's been in Spider-Man, he's been in other projects, too, but he is showing us that he has the acting chops. It's not just all the fun flashy superhero stuff. This guy can act. Jon Bernthal is here, and he's fantastic. Lupita Nyong'o, even though she's barely in this film because the story is not about her this time, but the small amount of time that we get from her, she is wonderful. And you will hear this name so much more going forward after this film, Samantha Morton, who plays Circe.

[00:04:44]Just wow, that's the performance of the entire film. Those scenes with her and what she does, like people are talking about how the next film that Christopher Nolan directs should be some type of body horror film, or just a horror genre film in general.

[00:05:00]I mean, he's got the chops for it. Just watch that scene, it is terrifying. Way more terrifying for me because I'm afraid of witches.

[00:05:07]I can't explain it. Just witches, women in power, I guess, scare me. I >> [laughter] >> don't know why it is, but you give me a a movie with like a hardcore witch, not like a campy witch, a cartoonish witch, like an actual witch, and I'm freaking out. Like she freaked me out in this movie. She was wonderful. Elliot Page is fantastic here. Again, people are complaining that they didn't have a big role, or that they didn't have a lot of screen time. It doesn't matter. Their scenes that they are a part of last with you throughout the entire thing, think that's way more powerful than having all of the scenes dedicated to you. If you're on screen for like 5 minutes through a 3-hour epic and their impact, their character sticks with you throughout the entire thing, I think they did a good job. And Robert Pattinson once again proves that he is way more than Twilight. He is one of the most versatile actors that we have working in this industry today. He can do anything. He can be a leading man. He can be a side character. He can be just a small little cameo that pops in, or he can be a complete dooshy ass coward like he is in this film and he's terrific. Not a single performance that's terrible in here. And you know what? I don't think there's a single aspect of this film that is terrible, that takes you out of it. It's a 3-hour long epic and just how Christopher Nolan directs this, how he edits this film, it doesn't feel like 3 hours. I could have watched this thing go on for another 3 hours because it felt like it was so many different movies combined into one, which is what the Odyssey is. It's all of these different adventures, him going off to different islands. In fact, he he cut a lot of things from the initial Homer poem where he visits like bunch of castles and he talks to all these kings about how awesome he is and all the kings are like, "Yeah, Odysseus, you're freaking awesome. Here's these things.

[00:06:58]You're freaking cool, bro." But how Nolan is able to cut that poem down to something that's under 3 hours because that's the limit of an IMAX camera and how they can be presented in theaters.

[00:07:08]It's tremendous. And how he takes this script that we've all heard of before, that we've probably all read in high school or in middle school at one point that we are all familiar with, especially with the Trojan Horse and the Trojan War and how that played out. He's managed to take that story that seems so distant, but make it current and make the themes of it current. This isn't just about war and victory and being, you know, the most manliest man you could possibly be. This whole story is about betraying Zeus's law. They keep talking about Zeus's law, which is treat travelers, treat beggars how you would like to be treated. Welcome them in with open arms, give them food, give them drink, give them comfort.

[00:07:51]But because they betrayed that with the Trojan War and all the trickery with the Trojan horse and everything, because they did that, society started crumbling around because that basic law, that simple basic kind law was betrayed. And that just bled out into all of these other civilizations and how everything just started deteriorating. It built itself back up over time, but I think we feel in this society now that things have gotten worse, that things have started deteriorating again. And if we don't learn from history, it's just destined to repeat itself over and over and over again.

[00:08:27]Christopher Nolan is brilliant in his adaptation of this 3,000, 4,000 year-old poem. It's mind-boggling is what it is.

[00:08:35]And his use of practical effects. They shot on location almost for this entire film. The sequence with Hades, how they shot that in Ireland on the black sands.

[00:08:45]It's the best sequence of the entire Well, second best sequence. I'll get to that here in a second. Visually though, a beautiful sequence and how they went about the dead and Hades and what they're there for and how they move around. The whole shadow of Agamemnon not looking like he's even walking. He's just kind of moving around like the Undertaker at some WrestleManias. It's bloody brilliant. It looks super cool.

[00:09:09]It gets under your skin. The sound here, the sound effects and the score that we have, it just crawls up under your skin.

[00:09:17]There's a sequence in here with the siren and they have to tie Odysseus to the mast so that he doesn't leap forward into the ocean swim to the sirens. And how the sound cuts out and the score is muffled so that we feel like we have that wax on our ears. It's a brilliant move. It's so freaking cool.

[00:09:38]As you can tell, there's not a lot of things that I hated about this movie. In fact, there is not a thing that I hated about this movie. If there was anything, and I don't hate this moment, it just, you know, hits home with me and I feel like it hits home with a lot of us, is when we see the dog Argus laying outside the castle moments away from death when Odysseus comes home.

[00:10:01]I'm getting teary.

[00:10:04]I cried so much in the theater when it happened.

[00:10:07]He comes home. The dog's been waiting for 20 years for his his master, his friend, his world to come home.

[00:10:15]And Odysseus is there for the the final breath.

[00:10:19]And you see his his tail wag and he's just so happy that his world returned to him. Oh god.

[00:10:27]Uh I laugh cuz, you know, being vulnerable on camera, it's it's hard, but uh I this year alone, just with the loss of my senior cat Max and reliving that, reliving that with my childhood dog, too.

[00:10:42]It's such a beautiful moment. I hate it when dogs die and cats die and beautiful fluffy animals die in films, but it was such a beautiful moment. It was a painful moment, but it was so reverent.

[00:10:54]That was the word that my wife was using a lot when describing this film, so I'm going to give her the credit for it, but that's the definition of the viewing experience of the Odyssey for me. It was a very reverent film.

[00:11:07]It doesn't hide things from you. It but it makes you feel comforted in the darkness of this world. It makes you feel comforted in that there is hope and that there is goodness and that there is light. That Zeus's law does live out through people in this movie. You know, the more I talk about this movie, I was contemplating like, is this going to be my favorite film of the year? Cuz there's another film that it's for me it's tied to. The more I talk about it though and how it's affecting me.

[00:11:36]This could be my favorite film of this year and it is a tremendous picture.

[00:11:41]It's absolute recommended viewing for everyone.

[00:11:45]Again, >> [laughter] >> that moment with Argus it it God, it gets me right here.

[00:11:50]It was [snorts] so beautiful and it was so sad and tragic but yet so great. Just reminds me about how great animals are and how we don't deserve them. We can love them as much as we possibly can but it doesn't matter how much we love them because to them we are their entire world and oh God, the fact that he held out >> [snorts] >> for his master to come home just in like the last seconds it's just God.

[00:12:15]That was beautiful. The Odyssey, it's a beautiful epic. It's a wonderful film.

[00:12:19]There are things that are changed in here to fit Christopher Nolan's narrative. The ending is different than the Homer poem but you know what it freaking works here and I have no complaints at all. This is absolute recommended viewing. This is one of the best pictures of the year by far. I'm going to give The Odyssey five out of five Blu-rays.

[00:12:37]>> I think I see blue.

[00:12:40]He looks glorious.

[00:12:42]>> So guys, if you've seen The Odyssey, what did you think about it? Or if you've never seen it before and you stumbled across because of this video then comment below let me know what you thought about it. And as always if you like what you see here, if you like my take on movies then hit the subscribe button and make sure you hit that bell.

[00:12:54]See you on the next time I'm Release Mix Movie Review. So guys, I will see you next time on the channel but in the meantime be well, be good to each other and go watch a movie.

[00:13:02]Take care guys.

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