Epics Are Back! I Watched Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey - Review & Bonus Streaming Releases

I give my review on Christopher Nolan's adaptation of Homer's Odyssey and highlight a few bonus items dropping on streaming that were announced after this month's preview!

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Time Codes:
00:00 - Opening Act: Intro & Previous Odyssey Knowledge
04:48 - Spoiler-Free Review
15:46 - Spoiler Thoughts
25:08 - Final Odyssey Thoughts
26:36 - Additional July Streaming Releases
29:03 - Curtain Call

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#movie #review #theodyssey #epic #downoncemorepod

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up everyone? Welcome to another episode of Down Once More. I'm your host, Matt, and this week I'm going to be giving you my review of Christopher Nolan's take on Homer's Odyssey. I'm going to start out with some spoiler-free general thoughts, then I'll get into some spoilers. I will have it noted in the time codes in the description. So check that out if you don't want to be spoiled if you haven't seen it yet. And then I'm going to give some picks on what's new to watch this month that hadn't been announced or revealed at the time of my episode at the beginning of the month. There's some good things coming out that I'm excited about and I think you should be aware of that is available on streaming. So let's get into my thoughts on the Odyssey. Now, my background with Homer's Odyssey is pretty light. I don't remember reading the story, the English translation adaptation. Obviously, uh growing up or in school, I had heard the story of the Cyclops, and the whole biggest thing from the Odyssey, arguably, is his Odysseus' cleverness being on display, tricking the Cyclops, saying that his name was nobody. So that when the other Cyclops, I don't know what the plural of Cyclops is. The other Cyclopi? That doesn't sound right. Whatever. The other, the other one-eyed species. So then the other group of this is gonna bug me what the plural of Cyclops is. Anyways, then when the others come, uh they are asking who hurt you, who did this to you, and he just says nobody, and they're like, Well, if nobody hurt you, peace out, shut up, and they go on their way. This is the kind of review this is going to be. Uh, it will not be fully high art educational Greek mythology breaking down. So this is your early warning and heads up for that. This is setting the tone for the episode. So that's what I was familiar with. And then I got turned on to Epic the Musical by Sage, who's been a frequent guest on the podcast. I hadn't heard of it before. It is a musical that is more for the TikTok generation, I would say. I think there's things that any generation can appreciate. However, he sourced talent to put the album together from TikTok, other online creators, and so Jorge Rivera Haran's his take on Odysseus's tale and the Odyssey is very unique and it focuses on some different key elements than the original story and Christopher Nolan's take. So I've seen people the Odyssey has a rabid fan base, not necessarily in a bad way, and they're talking about how excited they were for this movie, or they were worried it wasn't gonna be like Epic. It's its own thing. It's not an adaptation of Epic, it's an adaptation of Homer's Odyssey. They are doing a movie adaptation of Jorge Rivera Haranz's Epic. Uh Jerry Bruckheimer is leading that. There's no set date for that. It was just announced that it is in development and is going to be working on. So this is not going to be a review of Epic. I am wearing Epic the Musical merch right now, Odysseus's tour merch, solid shirt. Apparently, it's now available at Hot Topic. So I didn't even know Hot Topic still existed. Alright, so I was doing some editing and I can't believe that I forgot this. After I listened to Epic the Musical and all those sagas, I decided I wanted to consume more uh Odyssey, Odysseus media. And it was shortly after that I discovered the return with Ralph Fines as Odysseus. And this movie is intense, it is gritty, and it is strictly Odysseus's return to Ithaca and to the palace and everything that takes place there. It has none of the other pieces of the Odyssey, just an entire movie about the gravity and the intensity of that scene and the build-up to it and Odysseus scouting it out. So if you haven't checked that out, I highly recommend it. It is not fantastical at all, it is very grounded. Uh, you do see Ralph Finds penis, uh, or credit to him, it's a cock. You see, Ralph Finds Cock. So if that's not your thing, then don't. But he is jacked in this movie. He is a very dark and compelling and broken Odysseus. So highly recommend the return if you haven't seen that. I had to shout that out. I can't believe that I forgot it when I was recording. But that that was about the extent of my knowledge. I don't haven't read the book, so this is not going to be a comparison. How accurate to the text is it? Because there's a couple key things to remember. People were getting all worked up about the Odyssey from the initial trailers. The Odyssey is a myth, right? It is not a historical account, these are not things that actually happened. It features gods, monsters. So people were saying it's not historically accurate armor. Who cares? This is a made-up story, it is for entertainment and enjoyment. So if you go into it with that and just expecting a grand sweeping epic, you are not going to be disappointed. This movie is one of the largest scale movies that I have seen in so long. It is very, very ambitious. It is almost three hours long, but I didn't think it felt like three hours at all. It felt more like a two-hour movie. There, the first 15-20 minutes start kind of slow, then it picks up. There's a couple small spots where it drags during it, but overall, there is constantly something happening, and you are constantly getting sucked into it. Christopher Nolan is a master storyteller, and I thought this was one of his best. Now, I'm someone who enjoys certain aspects of the Dark Knight. I really enjoy Heath Ledger's Joker and that character and how it's written, and it is a beautiful movie. I do not think it's the best Batman movie ever. I do not think it's Christopher Nolan's best movie ever. I would say I don't think it's really even in his top five for me. I think the ones that I enjoy more are I enjoy The Prestige a lot. That might be my top Nolan film. Uh, this one is up there, probably in my top three. I really enjoy Memento, one of his first ones. And honestly, I think I like Batman Begins better than The Dark Knight. If it wasn't for Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight, um, Batman Begins would bury it, in my opinion. But I digress. We're talking about the Odyssey. People were also upset about the casting in this, uh, seeing Elliot Page and all the assumptions and things online that Elliot Page was playing Achilles. They are not. He's just straight up not Achilles, the character Sinat, who has a small but yet crucial role throughout it, which I'm not gonna spoil at this point, but they have about five to eight minutes of screen time, this entire movie. So don't get your panties in a wad. It's nothing to be upset, and they do very well in this role. I thought Elliot Page did a great job in the emotion that they portrayed, and they were very well cast for what this role was set out to accomplish. The other thing people were upset about is, I mean, when I say people, I mainly mean racists because it is a like I said, there's a made-up character. It doesn't matter what skin color they are, what they look like. Um, they were mad about Lupita Niango playing Helen of Troy. And that is a character that is also in this for I think three scenes, and again, maybe five minutes of screen time. So, people, you just gotta go into it with an open mind. The one criticism that I think is fair that Christopher Nolan said the reason he wanted to use some modern language and dialogue is to get the emotion and the point across. He didn't want to be hamstrung by using ancient accents and things like that, and the old-timey old English uh verbiage and just pattern of speaking and language. He wanted to use modern language to adapt that and connect and get the point across. But the dad and daddy conversations in the first part of the movie do get a little distracting. I think the thing that upset me most is that the conversation, the dialogue between Robert Pattinson's Antinuous and Tom Holland's Telemachus, where the dad and daddy uh conversation, that whole interaction, that whole exchange takes place is in the first 20 minutes of the film. And almost every time after that, Telemachus calls him father instead of dad or daddy. There's one other time towards the end of the film where he calls him dad. Every other time it's father. So if you were going to do father the rest of the time, why didn't you do father those? And I think it was maybe he was trying to do a more like intimate, like the dad is like when it's used, is a little bit more passionate from Telemachus. And Robert Panson's Antinous is doing it in a more derogatory way when he's saying daddy. And so maybe that's it, but it was a little bit distracting. But in this grand movie, it's not enough that I'm gonna say it loses half a star for that, or anything like that. You can tell Christopher Nolan's commitment to practical effects is just so evident in this, and I think it makes a world of difference when we get all these big movies like the Marvel movies that rely so much on the green screen and VFX that it can get distracting at times. And even this newest season of House of the Dragon, uh, this last episode, there's a scene when Damon is getting on Craxis, his dragon, and it is so obviously a green screen and not necessarily blended well. It's so like it sticks out like a sore thumb, and it is a little bit distracting. But Christopher Nolan's commitment to just true filmmaking, like this entire thing was shot on IMAX 70 millimeter film, which is both good and bad because there's only like 40 IMAC 70 millimeter screens in the country, so you it's hard to be able to truly experience this how he intended in that aspect ratio and that size and grandeur. Like one of the biggest things is he chose to make his interpretation of the Trojan horse in here was fully practical, not CGI, and it is a different take on it than we've seen before. And I actually really liked it. And the scene and how that plays out was so like claustrophobic and very well done. One of my uh favorite depictions of it that we've seen so far, but also the Cyclops, Polyphemous. It he used a 60-foot-tall puppet when they were filming so that the actress had something to interact with and they had something to build the visual effects, the CGI, off of. It wasn't just full VFX, it's not just someone with a tennis ball or anything that they're acting the blank wall. And I do think that that helped with the performances. Now, one thing that people criticized and was a little bit distracting for me at first was the choice to make the Cyclops' eye uh vertical instead of horizontal, so it looks a little vagina-y, but when you see it more upfront, because in all the trailers, it's when he's in shadows, you don't get a very clear view. It is because his face is contorted and twisted, so it made more sense to me in that regard. But Christopher Nolan also said, and this was revealed in interviews, so not a spoiler, that he felt like he couldn't adapt the nobody plot point, and that whole interaction and storyline with the Cyclops in this movie that it didn't fit with the tone that he was going for, which I can get. However, it is just a little bit of a strange choice that stands out, since that is the most notable story from this that people um can relate to, and they're they tie Odysseus to is the Cyclops and the Nobody tale. So that's why I said this is an adaptation of a myth from long ago, and so it's not gonna match everyone's interpretation. Christopher Nolan has a very strong point that he wants to get across during this, uh, very clear emotions that he wants to engage with the characters and build on these relationships. And so that nobody storyline wasn't part of that. So I don't have a problem with him leaving it out. I thought this still has the emotional punch that he was looking for. I thought it was still engaging. He did a really good job because I wasn't quite sure uh what to expect because Christopher Nolan is big on going the grounded route on pretty much everything. I didn't know if we would get some of the monsters and some of the more fantastical elements and mythological elements of this tale, and he did a really good job with it. There is one sequence, which I'll talk about in detail a little bit later, that has some body horror, like really good horror elements and moments, and then we get to see some creatures that is really well done. So, overall, I thought the storytelling device that this takes, it kind of does jump around from different people's perspectives and point of views and follows different characters very well. And so I did really, really enjoy this movie. I think it's up there, probably my top three uh Christopher Nolan films, and I gave it I think four and a half on Letterboxd that almost got five stars out of it for me. Uh, there is, I will give warning, there are multiple dogs that die in this movie. If that uh is something that is important to you. One is very early on, and it is in a very flippant way, and people let out audible like gasps and uncomfortable laughter in the theater when I saw it. And then there's other animals that die in it. So if dead animals bothers you, maybe this isn't for you, but I really enjoyed it. I think this is definitely one you want to experience on the biggest screen you can. The sound mixing was incredible. And in the spoiler section, I'll talk about one scene that had the biggest impact for me that the sound and having it in the theater was absolutely epic, and I can't recommend it more. The performances in this were all great too. Like I know people were doubting the casting, both of Zendaya as Athena, uh Tom Holland as Telemachus, Matt Damon as Odysseus, pretty much all the castings in it, but I thought everyone hit their mark. Even John Bernthal as Menelaus, people were doubting how he would do because John Bernthal pretty much plays John Bernthal in everything he's in, right? He is a very distinct persona as an actor, but for this character's personality and how he was written in this, I thought it fit very, very well. So I thought top-tier casting by Christopher Nolan in that regard. Okay, so that's my general spoiler-free thoughts on the Odyssey. Now I want to get into a couple specific spoilers. And the main one that was the biggest, biggest crux of this movie for me was the arc of Odysseus just kind of strumming his bow before he fires. We're introduced to that very early on with him when he's hunting, he does it before firing at the boar. They ask him why, and he says, to make it fair. Um, and Emmaus, who's played by John Leguizamo, is like, well, it's hunting, not a fight. And because Odysseus's main kind of through point throughout this, some of the key themes, are the Zeus's law, is one of the tenets that he sticks to and holds to, and everyone preaches. Telemachus preaches, and it is that you never know who may be a god in disguise, so treat everyone like you would treat yourself or as if they were a god, essentially. And so that's why Odysseus, a very strong believer in fairness, and while he is cunning, that doesn't necessarily come to play as much as it does in other iterations or the myth. Like he did come up with the Trojan horse, but you see at the end that that truly haunts him because he realizes that that was just a betrayal of Zeus's law and against his morals and his principles and what he tries to cling to. And so he chose that to win the war after 10 years, 10-year campaign at the Trojan War, and he chooses to come up with this cunning and not make it a fair fight. So I thought that was interesting. I thought it was a very unique take on that character because usually Odysseus's cunning and cleverness, and Agama not Agamemnon, uh Menelaus even says that Odysseus was one of the cleverest warriors that he's ever been a part of, but that isn't really shown beyond him um coming up with the Trojan horse, but then he regrets it. We see it somewhat Circe, him able to kind of clock what was going on with her, and that's another thing that I thought was oh, I I need to keep on one train of thought. I'm bad at this, I'll just ramble and squirrel and take different roundabout paths. But strumming is bow. So we're introduced to it earlier on early on in the film. It comes to play later, but at the end, when Penelope has given her challenge to the suitors about whoever can string Odysseus's bow and shoot through the 12 axes, that's who she'll marry. And Ludwig Gorenson's score hits, and everyone's been failing, and Odysseus strings the bow, and everyone's kind of in awe and gasp, and then he strums it, he plucks the bowstring, and that tone, because it's giving off like a musical tone, the whole thing, which probably wouldn't actually happen, but it's beautiful in the movie and the impact. And when he does that, and that hits right with the score, and it just comes together, and it is it gave me chills, and it was so good. Ludwig Gorenson is one of my favorite composers, especially um in modern times, like right now, he is probably my favorite composer currently, because the way that he just takes all these different instruments and sounds and different like genres and vibes of music and weaves it all together so intricately, and it tells the story so well. So, shout out Ludwig Gorensen, big time shout out. I think he will receive an Oscar or at least a nomination for this film. The other thing I wanted to talk about was Circe and her island. I was curious how they were going to adapt Cersei, if it was going to make a play on it, because her big thing is she turns Odysseus's men to pigs. She is kind of disgusted by men in general and usually kind of brings out their true selves and converts them into that. So when they get to the island, the men are seeing different animals that are just calm. So like a lion, a tiger, as they're walking up to this house where they're just trying to find food and provision provisions. And your Eurylicus is they're not threatening, they're being calm when they come across Cersei, and they don't threaten her for food and they ask her, she offers, but they eat and she turns them into pigs. Like the story. But how they do the transformation isn't just they eat it and boom, pigs. She is doing like body manipulation, turning them into these pigs, pulling on their jaw, like reaching in their mouth, pulling their jaw out, pushing their faces, manipulating it into becoming pigs. And it was some insane body horror, and very just like there were people that were like looking away from the screen in the showing. It was intense, but it was so well done from Christopher Nolan. So I thought that was a very cool portrayal of that kind of body horror. And people are gone, like Christopher Nolan, I think would make a fantastic horror movie. He said he's gonna take a few years off after this, before his next movie. And if he comes out and does like a smaller scale scale, lower budget horror movie, it could be great. Like the horror scenes in Batman Begins are fantastic. So I would be all for that. Uh, I also thought the Cyclops looked really good, the kind of take they had. The Cyclops isn't talking, having conversations back and forth. He is more like this shadowy figure and monster, but then after they poke out his eye, they hear him calling and talking to Poseidon. And so he is able to speak, but they decide they can't reason with him. And then Scylla, the other monster that takes out six of Odysseus' crew, that almost has these snake like heads and tendrils with mouse that are just plucking all these sailors off his ship. We don't really get a full view of Scylla, but it was still really. Well done. The scene with the sirens. We don't really get to see the sirens well, but it had the impact that it needed to, and was heartbreaking in a way. And you hear Odysseus talk about it because he wanted to hear the siren song and has the men just lash him to the mast. And so he's able to hear it and he's like crying out in anguish. And you see it from Eurylochus' point of view, where he's got the wax in his ears, and he's just watching Odysseus here kind of like almost writhe and just cry out in pain. And I thought it was very powerful how they played out that scene. Same with the journey to the underworld, to Hades. It's not what you would think traditionally, but how they played it was very well done. It wasn't fantastical at all. It is basically on the black shore, but when they're getting the prophecy that Odysseus is of what will happen, I thought that was well done. One thing people were complaining about and getting up in arms before the movie, and then even now afterwards, is when they land on the aisle and come into contact with these giants. Apparently, they are described kind of ogre-ish big hulking giants in the original text, is what people are saying, because now everyone is an Odyssey expert. And this they are as armored warriors, they are wearing silver polished armor, they're 12 feet tall, they're taking out all the men, they're wearing they got weapons, all that fun stuff, and people don't like that. They're like, that's not accurate. Now, while I agree, these people, the odds that they're always in armor seems very low, but I it was a cool scene. I didn't have a problem with it. It's a made-up story. I thought this how they told the story through Odysseus starting to remember on Calypso's Island, uh, where he has been imprisoned for seven years, eight years. Her just played by Charlie's throne, who did a fantastic job, and she had been keeping him numbed with the lotus flower. And so how we're hearing his story is through him slowly remembering things. Uh Calypso's realizing it's time for him to go on, and so weaning him off that lotus flower, and he's just starting to remember, and things are coming back to him. And I thought it was very cool how you're getting it in kind of chunks, where he'd remember some, so we get some of the backstory in history, and then we jump and see Penelope and Telemachus' storyline, which and Hathaway also gives some fantastic performances throughout this with some monologues and just the emotion that she portrays. So, so good, so good. And ultimately the ending, which I talked about earlier a little bit, when it is Odysseus just kind of mourning what he became to win the Battle of Troy, and then what it cost him to get back, and what he had betrayed his ideals and his values. And I thought that was a very powerful scene, and I thought Matt Damon did so good portraying that and the emotions. So, shout out everyone in this film. People should trust Christopher Nolan with this. Like I said, if you're expecting it to be a one-for-one adaptation of the old classic Homer's tale that has been translated so many times, and there's so many different adaptations, then you're gonna be disappointed. But view it as this story on its own, like almost any adaptation is. It uses that as the framework to tell this director, this writer's new interpretation and tale. So that's what it is. If you go in with that mindset, I think you will love this film. I can't wait to watch it again when it comes out and see what I may have missed and just experience this story again because it is a massive epic. And I feel like we went through a long phase where we didn't see many of those, but then with the Dune series, which Dune 3 looks amazing with those, and then this, we're in a good, we're in a good spot right now with movies, and I can't wait. Okay, so now to highlight some exciting new things that are coming to streaming or have already come to streaming this month that were announced after I recorded and released the what's new to watch in July 2026 episode. We're gonna start with Prime Video on July 3rd, so like right after I released it, they dropped Project Hail Mary. So you can now stream that on there. Uh, I just started it this morning, I will be finishing it this weekend. I'm very excited to see that I've heard nothing but great things about it. Ryan Gosling's performance, Lorda Miller's direction. So good. But the other thing that I'm arguably more excited about is July 29th, the Devil's Mouth comes out. And this is a prime original movie, it is a shark movie. It looks like it will be one that really focuses on the horror and the shark aspects. So that's what I'm hoping for. A lot of shark movies let me down by not focusing on that. This looks like it is going to be a true kind of horror story with that, and I can't wait. I'm really excited for it. And it looks like it's a little bit more contained, similar to The Shallows, which with Blake Lively, which I actually really enjoyed. So I am excited to check this out at the end of the month. Over on Netflix, a couple of documentaries. One drops today, the 22nd, and that's a Toxic Love Story, which is a true crime documentary, which looks intense. And then on the 29th, the Idaho Murders, the College Nightmare, which is a documentary on some pretty horrific and shocking murders that happened in recent memory. Over on Hulu, also today, July 22nd, my grandfather Charles Manson, a documentary about Charles Manson's grandkid, comes out and them talking about what that was like. So that will also be intriguing. So a couple good true crime docs coming to streaming. This past week on July 17th, Obsession came out to Peacock. And I'll be talking about it in the August episode of What's New to Watch when I give my watch report. I watched this, I bought on digital and checked it out that way. Cannot recommend it enough. Check that out on Peacock if you haven't already. Fantastic performances, amazing tension, and horror written so well. So check that out. And then it was just announced a couple days ago on July 24th. Mortal Kombat 2 is coming to HBO Max. So I talked about it a little bit. Mortal Kombat 2, I enjoyed for what it was. I didn't think it was as good as it could have been. It had a lot of potential that they didn't capitalize on, but still worth a watch, and I would recommend it, especially if you're a fan of the Mortal Kombat series. It has some great fight scenes, just over-the-top action and kind of cheesy humor, which is a throwback to the B movies and the classic movies of the day. So I'd recommend checking that out if you like movies in that style, some over-the-top gore and action and fights. And that's gonna do it for this week's episode. Next week, I will be doing a review of the Hades Town Pro Shot with Sage. She'll be joining the podcast again and we'll be talking about that. I reviewed the national tour a while back and gave some overall thoughts on Hades Town, but uh Sage Hades Town was one of her favorite musicals, so she's got her own take and history on it, and then being able to see the original Broadway cast from the Pro Shot that was filmed in London's West End is going to be amazing. I can't wait to watch it. So we're seeing that in theaters on Thursday. That review will be coming out in the pod the following week. Brad and I finally have a recording scheduled for Rockadoodle. We have now both watched it. Uh, spoiler alert, it holds up, in my opinion. You can stream that for free on YouTube. So, Rockadoodle, a Don Bluff film from I think early 90s, maybe it was late 80s, but a lot of fun. Uh Brad's kids loved it. So we'll hear more about that in the coming weeks. I will also be seeing Spider-Man brand new day on the 30th and talking about that on the podcast on the what's new to watch in August episode when I do my watch report. I'll be doing a mini review on that. So make sure you subscribe to the pod, turn on notifications. Still doing House of the Dragon instant reactions. Now that Love Island is over, those will be dropping earlier on Sunday nights. So that'll be kind of nice. So those will probably be coming to platforms at about nine, uh, probably about 10 o'clock uh central time on Sunday nights. I think the episode goes from eight to nine by the time I record, edit, get it out, probably 10:30 central time. So turn on notifications. That drops as a bonus episode whenever I get it out there. So make sure you tune into that. And if you have ideas, suggestions for us, we have a link on podcast platforms. You can send us a message on there, send us your suggestions, your thoughts, what you want us to talk about. Uh, it's in the description. You can click on it. It's through Buzz Sprout where we do uh all our podcast distributing. When I say we, I mean me. It's a one-man show over here. But send me your thoughts, send me your messages, DM me on Instagram. I like to connect with you all and hear your thoughts on these movies, these musicals, and what you want to see from us on the pod. I'm always looking for new ideas, suggestions of either drafts that we can do, top five lists you want to hear from me, what my favorite songs are in a specific musical genre. Let me know. I want to talk about it, and I want to interact and give you what you want to see. So if also if you have ideas for what to do on Matt's coffee corner, shoot those to me in a message as well. That's been a fun series I've been doing on TikTok, Instagram reels, Facebook reels, YouTube shorts. That drops every Sunday morning. And so what I'm doing for coffee for that week, and we'll see. I sometimes have general recipes that I'm following, but other times I just wing it, throw things together and see how it turns out. It can be a lot of fun, but if you're trying to follow my videos for instructions on what to make for yours, probably not very helpful. But hey, it's not supposed to be a how-to, it's supposed to be creative, fun, and another way to engage with you all. So thank you for tuning in. Drop a comment, drop a like on the video, subscribe, follow if you're not already. Appreciate you being here, taking your time to hear my thoughts and ramblings. And before we see you next time, don't forget to go down once more. Later.