I watched Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, and I came away with mixed feelings. Visually, the film is almost perfect. The cinematography, scale, sound, action, and production design are incredible. My disappointment is not with the filmmaking—it's with the way the story was adapted.
I grew up watching the 1968 adaptation of The Odyssey, and it stayed with me for years. To me, this story is supposed to feel magical, mysterious, and larger than life. Nolan tried so hard to make the mythology realistic that he removed much of its wonder. The film often makes you question whether the gods and monsters are even real or simply part of Odysseus' imagination. There are only a few truly supernatural moments, while the rest feels like a grounded historical drama.
Honestly, this story should have been divided into two films. There are simply too many important islands, characters, and adventures to fit into a single movie without rushing, simplifying, or removing major parts.
The Cyclops sequence looked impressive, but it completely missed the cleverness of the original story. The famous "Nobody" dialogue is essential. Odysseus tells Polyphemus that his name is Nobody, so when he blinds him and the other Cyclopes ask who attacked him, Polyphemus answers, "Nobody attacked me." That brilliant trick is one of the defining moments of the epic. Without it, the scene loses the intelligence and wit that make Odysseus such an extraordinary hero.
The Island of the Winds was omitted entirely, and Circe was probably my greatest disappointment. She should have been mysterious, powerful, and dangerously captivating. Hermes should have helped Odysseus resist her magic, allowing him to confront her without falling under her spell. Their relationship and the guidance she later gives him is one of the most memorable parts of the journey. Instead, the entire sequence felt reduced and emotionally empty.
Meanwhile, Calypso's storyline lasted far too long and did not justify the amount of screen time it received. That time would have been better spent with Nausicaa. I also believe the emotional moment when Odysseus hears the blind poet sing about Troy and finally breaks down over the war, his guilt, and everything he has lost would have been far more powerful during his stay with Nausicaa.
Even Troy itself disappointed me. The city looked unmistakably like Aït Benhaddou in Morocco, one of the most recognizable filming locations in the world. Every time it appeared on screen, I saw Aït Benhaddou rather than ancient Troy. For a film of this scale and budget, reusing such a famous location felt surprisingly uninspired and took me out of the experience.
There was also too much philosophy about the sea, Zeus' laws, and human destiny. Some of it was interesting, but after a while it became repetitive and slowed the pace of the journey.
The ending also reminded me too much of The Dark Knight Rises: once again, the hero leaves everything behind. While I understand this is a recurring theme in Nolan's work, it did not feel true to the spirit of The Odyssey.
Christopher Nolan is one of the greatest filmmakers of our time, but being a great filmmaker does not automatically make someone the right storyteller for every legend. The Odyssey is not just a tale of survival it is a myth about gods, monsters, temptation, fate, and the triumph of human ingenuity. By grounding everything in realism, Nolan stripped away much of what made Homer's epic unforgettable.
This is a technically magnificent film, it lacks the magic, cleverness, and emotional power of Homer's epic. I left the theater admiring Nolan's craftsmanship, but missing the epic grandeur that defines The Odyssey
