Christopher Nolan’s films don’t often come up for air, as is the case here, with the majority of its running time a maelstrom of relentless action and cacophonous music – courtesy, once again, of Swedish maestro Ludwig Göransson. This relentlessness can come at the expense of emotional depth, even in a film with such unbelievably high stakes, though scenes with Odysseus’ loyal old hunting dog, Argos, offer enough heartbreak to go around.
You may wonder whether in another director’s hands, the quieter, more delicate moments might be made more impactful. The thought doesn’t last long, though, as that’s not really what people are buying tickets to see this in 70mm for – and if you’re not electrified watching this on the biggest screen possible, then you probably don’t like movies, and are more than likely dead.
There’s certainly plenty of death wrought in the film’s climactic confrontation. When Batman Begins was released in 2005, some criticised Nolan’s approach to shooting action. Watching this sequence, pitched somewhere between The Red Wedding in Game Of Thrones and the hammer fight in Oldboy, you appreciate how far he’s come in improving his flaws as a filmmaker.
The Odyssey is a staggering achievement with passion and ambition in every frame, as well as some subtext relevant to our current climate baked in, about the spiralling destructiveness of war and imperialism, and its cost for the innocent.
Time will tell if it’s to be Nolan’s finest work, but it’s certainly his most comprehensive. Visits to the cinema are rarely so rewarding.
The Odyssey is out now via Universal.