Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton
Week of July 13, 2026
The Odyssey
Rated R for violence and some language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%
In Theaters
When you think Christopher Nolan, your mind should immediately imagine big, smart epic filmmaking. For decades, he has brought us some of the grandest movies imaginable, such as The Dark Knight Trilogy, Interstellar, Inception and his recent Oscar-winner, Oppenheimer. Now he is taking on The Odyssey from the ancient Greek poet Homer. The story takes place after The Trojan war as King Odysseus of Ithaca (played here by Matt Damon), and his men, make the journey back home after winning the war. But instead of going straight home, they make a few stops along the way, all the while testing the gods and confronting monsters, deadly armies and all sorts of perilous traps. Meanwhile, Queen Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and Prince Telemachus (Tom Holland) are held captive in their own kingdom by suitors who want to marry the Queen, in case of the death of Odysseus, and overthrow the prince. From the moment the movie starts, you know you are in for a long but deeply satisfying ride. While it’s a bit of a slow burn at first, that is just Nolan setting up the stakes, and as soon as the action starts, it hardly lets up. There is danger around literally every corner and our heroes find themselves knee-deep in it every time. It’s hard to review a film such as this without over-using words like impressive, impactful, and huge, but it is all these things and more. The cast itself is one of the finest ever put on screen, full of Oscar-winners and iconic figures such as Damon, Holland, Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Mia Goth, and many, many others. Nolan has never had an issue attracting great actors to his scripts, but The Odyssey is just ridiculous. He also brings back long-time collaborators such as cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema and composer Ludwig Göransson to a production worthy of their skills and talents. What is most important here is Nolan’s vision. He is thoughtful in every detail, telling a story that will be greatly appreciated by fans of the work, and to those that have never heard of it before this weekend. He makes it relevant to today’s political climate without making it preachy or distracting. In the end, you get an Earth-shattering, monumental motion picture that will leave you exhausted but still thrilled that you were able to experience the three-hour journey. If you do get the chance to see it in IMAX, I would highly advise doing so. This is the first movie ever filmed 100% with IMAX cameras, with visuals and sound truly worthy of the technology. A+