“The Odyssey” first reactions are here and, spoiler alert: People love the new Christopher Nolan movie.
Early audiences who have seen the fantasy epic, adapting Homer’s classic tale, praised Nolan’s massive, sweeping vision for the classic story.
“‘The Odyssey’ is staggering,” said @ian_sandwell on X. “Packed with intense and spectacular set pieces, often backed by a soul-rattling score, it builds to a final act that’s as good as anything Nolan’s done. Purists might baulk at the adaptation changes, but as an experience, nobody is doing it like Nolan.”
The film marks Nolan’s first feature since his massively successful “Oppenheimer,” a three-hour R-rated historical biopic that grossed nearly $1 billion and won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Best Original Score (Ludwig Göransson), Best Film Editing (Jennifer Lame) and Best Cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema).
But “The Odyssey” marks a different flavor for Nolan, seeing him tackle monsters and mythology in a way he never has before. Matt Damon stars in the film as Odysseus, joined by an all-star cast including Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Benny Safdie, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, Samantha Morton, Elliot Page and more. X user @jacobkleinman called it “Nolan’s most straightforward movie ever.”
“THE ODYSSEY is a filmmaking feast,” Collider’s Perri Nemiroff added. “A grand and gripping rendition of Homer’s epic, and one that feels uniquely Christopher Nolan. It’s sincerely hard to imagine any other filmmaker on the planet being able to bring that source material to screen with this much scale, scope and heart.”
These reactions are sure to please Nolan fans who bought their tickets for the film’s early screenings a full year ahead of time. Despite the sales opening 12 months before the showings would actually take place, these IMAX screenings sold out in minutes.
You can see more early reactions below.
“The Odyssey” sails into theaters on July 17.
