Enough time has passed since Chris Nolan’s epic blockbuster The Odyssey premiered in late July for me to finally break this down. The nearly three hour war epic was a smash hit at the box office, grossing $1.3 billion so far after about a month of showings. It just recently surpassed Deadpool & Wolverine as the highest grossing R-Rated movie of all time.
But alas, why you are here. To see what I have to say about The Odyssey. Those who listened to the podcast have already heard what I have had to say about it (Hint: I loved it. Also. You can find it right here: The Odyssey Review). But the question has been up in the air ever since the movie first came out: Is it the best of Nolan’s loaded filmography?
IMDb currently has The Odyssey ranked as the fourth best Chris Nolan movie, behind The Dark Knight, Inception, and Interstellar. Letterboxd on the other hand, has it ranked third, behind The Dark Knight and Interstellar once again.
The best thing about films and reviewing films is that it’s all subjective. Not everyone is going to agree with everyone else’s rankings, and that’s okay. The fact is, there is no true best film from Christopher Nolan. And that is okay. I know some readers might hate my decision, and that’s why I love reviewing movies.
In my most humble opinion, The Odyssey is… not Nolan’s greatest film. I know. Boring.
The thing is, this movie is still amazing. It’s most likely a top three Nolan film so far. I just don’t think that it’s as great as some of the others. My personal favorite, The Prestige, may never be topped if this didn’t do it for me.
The Odyssey is still a near perfect film. Nolan almost perfectly encapsulated a story that directors and producers are too scared to touch with a ten foot pole. The star-studded cast, the use of practical effects instead of CGI, the uproar over the IMAX cameras, everything going into this film made it so freaking good.
It’s just, something about it just can’t climb over The Prestige hump for me. The two movies are vastly different. One is about a man trying to return home to his family from war, and the other about two magicians in an intense lifelong rivalry that ends up consuming their lives.
The same old Nolan themes are present in both of them though. Both stories are told in non-linear ways, the same is true of almost every single Nolan film. All of the main characters start to be filled with regret of their choices, with Odysseus obviously regretting the Trojan Horse, which he shares in his monologue to Penelope. Angier regrets his decision to go all in on his last trick, as he comes full circle with the fact that Borden was always one step ahead, even in death.
The moral of the story is, there really is no wrong choice when deciding on what the best Christopher Nolan movie is. If you hated Interstellar but loved Following, then that’s your choice and we have nothing to say about it.
Don’t let anyone tell you that your film choices are, “bad” or “unbearable” because it’s what you like. Your choices are no worse or no better than theirs.
Thank you for reading this far down into the article. You can catch us on our podcast Frame By Frame where we review movies that just came out, some that we just watched, and overall just have a good time over there. I am in the process of rewatching or watching for the first time every single Christopher Nolan movie for an upcoming episode, so I will be posting reviews on here.
The next review is going to be either No Country For Old Men or Get Out. Two classics.
