I just watched the Odyssey over the weekend and I definitely wanted to see how bad the controversy was going to affect the movie. Overall it was pretty good and I would give it a solid 7/10. Not because of the controversies surrounding it including creative casting decisions, but because the movie was long and lacking. Agamemnon had sick armor in the movie, the cyclops looked disgusting, the witch was terrifying, the space marine cannibals felt somewhat ehhhh, Anne Hathaway is always great to watch, Zendaya fatigue was setting in, Tom Holland really felt like it was the kid that got bullied at school, Robert Pattinson really sold the douchebaggery, Matt Damon is always a joy on the big screen, and there were a lot of boat scenes.
The Good
Regarding the best parts of the Odyssey it mostly isn’t the story or the actors. The best parts people continue to compliment is the cinematography, the sound, production, supporting cast, and the mythological sequences that director Christopher Nolan picked. The movie was absolutely beautiful with the areas it took you to as well as the battle of Troy’s intensity. The sound design in The Odyssey was also highly complimented as it felt very real and intense. Production made the movie not look cheap. The supporting cast was stacked with heavy hitters including of course Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, and Robert Pattinson.
The mythological sequences were also well picked from the tree of possibilities from the original adaptation of The Odyssey by Homer. Some people felt like the scenes went too long and some people wanted them to last longer. To be frank, the scene in Hades allowed Eliot Page to shine, in general the entire time they were in Hades it was horrifying. Also some of the less “notable” actors really helped sell the scenes such as Himesh Patel who felt like one of your friends that you can trust.
The Bad
Easily one of the biggest complaints of the movie from general audiences is that it was very long. 3 Hours…well…maybe slightly less. 2 hours and 52 minutes (172 minutes). The pacing in this movie was very slow which at some points were nice, but in others you kind of wanted things to move on. The Cyclops scene had them stuck in there for multiple days with Odysseus making a dumb move to shoot at him when they finally escaped. Why? It made something that should’ve ended last longer.
Zendaya fatigue? This is what some people are calling the fact that she ends up in a lot of movies and a lot of TV shows. Her appearance in the movie doesn’t really feel fresh anymore as she has become way too overextended in her roles. Sometimes you can’t even see her as anything else but Rue from Euphoria.
Lastly, the modernization of Homer’s Epic turning into what The Odyssey was today is a bit of a stretch. Many felt that a few cast members were poorly picked for ideology sake rather than being great at their roles. The bastardization of Odysseus in The Odyssey was also very telling as he becomes extremely remorseful from the battle of Troy. Matt Damon did a great job as playing as him, but there was always that thought in the back of the head as the character in the movie felt emotionally restrained.
Odyssey Final Thoughts
Completely honestly. I enjoyed the movie and the controversial moments of the movie were probably a maximum of 5-8 minutes long. Even then, they weren’t as bad as some people were acting like they were going to be. Did you feel a moment of being pulled out of the movie? Yes. Absolutely. I even semi-liked the scenes, but it definitely made you feel like there was a political/ideological undertone.
I could have definitely removed or shortened some scenes. Specifically? Well Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland could have stared at each other a little less for one, the siren scene on the boat could have been removed, the cyclops scene didn’t require him to have to shoot it at the end, most of the scenes of him on the island with the goddess were essentially pointless other than storytelling, and I’m pretty sure if you poked around you could probably have removed at least 30 minutes to an hour of the movie with no/little consequences.
At the end of the day I enjoyed watching The Odyssey, it was definitely a fun journey to go along, and the movie almost hit the perfect spot. Would I ever watch this one again like I’ve watched Tropic Thunder or Hot Fuzz, probably not. I’ve even watched Die Hard a handful times, but I most likely will never rewatch The Odyssey. Solid performances and I thought Robert Pattinson and Matt Damon did a fantastic job.
Money?
The last moment I personally researched is whether or not The Odyssey made money. At this point in time on 7/27/26 it has raked in around $650 million dollars worldwide. Does that mean The Odyssey was a gigantic success? Well not really. Not trying to be a pessimist here, but the overall budget for the movie was around $250 million and probably another $150 million in marketing costs. That totals it’s cost to around $400 million dollars.
Lastly, the movie doesn’t get 100% of the ticket sells and internationally it does worse with ticket sale percentages. The movie needs to gain about $600 to $700 million dollars to break even. So, it has officially broke the point of losing money. Now the gaining will begin. Let’s see how long it lasts in theaters and lets hope for success as overall The Odyssey was a great movie.