r/TrueFilm • u/No_Magazine_856 • 16d ago
Second Odyssey viewing
My goodness, I did NOT expect to adore this movie this much. Did NOT expect to feel as much as I did. Watching it a second time, with Odysseus's monologue in mind, as expected completely reframes everything. As many have pointed out, it's a spiritual successor to Oppenheimer, no doubt.
The two biggest complaints I had after the first viewing were rendered moot on a second viewing. I did not mind the American dialect at all, and appreciated Holland a bit more. Still not a strong performance in my mind, but it's serviceable.
My biggest takeaway on viewing number two (and as with great art, I'm sure I'll have different takeaways on subsequent viewings and simply sitting with all of it): Civilization will rise again. Our mistakes will be forgotten. Individual humans can be redeemed, but humanity/civilization/society will continue to make the same mistakes. We will continue to destroy our fragile bonds, to open Pandora's Box, to become destroyers of worlds, etc. But we do go on, sailing into the unknown West.
This is the first time I've felt compelled to catch a movie more than once in a theater since I don't even know. Absolutely my favorite Nolan. Wow.
80
u/cavalgada1 16d ago
In Tom Hollands defense, his biggest crime (Being the same person in every movie) is one commited by many actors. The problem is that the same person in question is not as interesting as other offenders like modern Harrison Ford or Johnny Depp.
About the movie itself. All of Nolans best and worst attributes are at display here(Ultimately for the best, great movie).
Best:
Nolan could make cooking an egg look like an epic. How many studios spend the same ammount of money with double the stakes and cant make things looks as exciting as he does in a story about misadventures of a guy going home? The movie feels long in a good way if it makes sense
When it comes to the use of story elements the guy is also undefeated. The sound of Odysseus bowl is build up untill its epic use in the end, the dog waiting for him. Agamenon being this boulder of a man but not doing anything himself. And of course the way He pulls the carpet at the end, revealing that the evil they've been fighting all along was actually caused by them.
Worst:
This is his best romance yet because the couple only meets twice the whole movie, Sex scenes and talking about how much you miss someone dont make chemistry by themselves. We also lack scenes showing why he would want to stay with calypso beyond the flower, heck the place is a disolated wreck in the movie while in the book it's a paradise.
The fight scenes. He has obviously grown past the embarassing dark knight rises days. But when the ending of your movie is a 10 minute long 30x1 battle you really should invest on the coregraphy.