The biggest compliment I can give The Odyssey is that it’s over three hours long and I never really felt it. There’s a ton going on, but every part gets enough time to make its point without dragging. I liked that it felt like one continuous journey made up of smaller chapters, because that’s kind of what The Odyssey is. Odysseus just wants to get home, but every obstacle teaches him something along the way. Matt Damon plays him less like some untouchable Greek hero and more like a guy damaged by war who is carrying what happened at Troy with him. I never really saw the journey as the gods punishing him. It felt more like Odysseus slowly learning the lessons he needed to learn in order to become a better man.
I also loved how grounded the mythology felt. The gods are there without feeling like puppet masters, and things like the Cyclops and Circe turning the men into pigs are genuinely disturbing without becoming giant fantasy showcases. At the same time, the actual scale of the human world is massive. The shot of Agamemnon storming the gates in his armor is still stuck in my head and looked incredible in IMAX. Anne Hathaway also stood out as Penelope, especially because her loyalty makes her feel like the one constant in this completely chaotic journey. My only real gripe was the final fight with the suitors. I know Odysseus is an incredible warrior, but eventually there were so many guys that I started wondering why they didn’t just rush him.
I grew up studying Latin, so I’m probably an easy audience for anything involving the Trojan War, but I’ve also heard The Odyssey told a million different ways. I wasn’t worried about whether every detail matched Homer. I just wanted this version to make the story work, and it did. It’s about war, home, loyalty, mistakes, and becoming a better person through the journey. Apparently those ideas worked 3,000 years ago, and they still work now. The story has been around that long for a reason.