I went into “The Odyssey” (2026) with my arms folded. I’m notoriously hard on Christopher Nolan and Matt Damon plus I’m angry at the world for not giving enough attention to “The Return” (2024) starring Ralph Fiennes and was not thrilled at the prospect of a three-hour movie. Well, those three hours felt like nothing and at the end, I would not have minded seeing it again. I may even pay to see it for a second time! This adaptation of Homer’s “Odyssey” can be dressed up or down. If you are looking for a genre defying mashup of horror, action, fantasy, drama and vengeance, look no further, but if you are looking for a meaningful message about war, civilization and the rule of law, gods or man, then it packs a gut punch. What can keep Odysseus (Damon) away from home?

If you are unfamiliar with the story, here is the gist. At the command of Agamemnon, Odysseus went away to war against Troy, but after ten years on the beach, Odysseus decides to hide him and his men in the Trojan Horse so they could enter the walled city. After winning, he cannot get home because the journey is littered with perils, which means that his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), and his son, Telemachus (Tom Holland), are beset with guests, mostly consisting of suitors, enjoying their hospitality without any manners because they believe that Odysseus is never coming home. They want the queen and the kingdom, which puts a big mark on Telemachus’ head. Antinous (Robert Pattinson) is the most conniving of the suitors and is the story’s villain from soup to nuts even as a kid. I have not read the book since I was in high school so there will be no comparison with the source material and “The Odyssey,” but for a movie with a well-known plot, it never feels paint by numbers or predictable though most of us generally know what to expect.

“The Odyssey” is like a Russian nesting doll of stories that the characters tell each other, which Nolan then depicts on screen either with or without the audible narration from that character if it goes on long enough. Some of these stories are flashbacks, dreams, instructions. It does what “The Death of Robin Hood” (2026) attempted to do but did not quite convey. The first hour is probably the hardest to acclimate to because seeing all these recognizably famous people who are clearly not Greek playing ancient characters using American accents, not British, which most of the public has been groomed into erroneously believing is the appropriate accent for any period or costume movie even if it is set in a country with not a Brit in sight. Once Samantha Morton is onscreen, it truly sets the tone of the movie and is the most captivating, startling scene. Unlike “The Return,” this film is not realistic and keeps the mythological elements, but Nolan has found a way to use ancient mythology’s supernatural to convey the message and make fantastical elements root the story to transcend time while being applicable in the present.

While Morton may deserve the prize for standing head and shoulders above the rest, the entire cast did a great job. Damon plays Odysseus as a guy that even his men are a bit sick of, and he really needed that long trip to learn his lesson, i.e. stop being irreverent. The Massachusetts accent works for this interpretation. Odysseus is cavalier about not angering the gods no matter how many times he is forced to learn that lesson. Hathaway’s take on Penelope is angrier than expected. There is a brief but perfect sub storyline at being the substitute ruler and the frustration of the lack of respect for the work that she is putting in to keep her and her son safe. It felt as if Holland was held back too much, but he is one reason where “The Odyssey” beat “The Return.” Telemachus’ story has never felt essential in prior incarnations. Now that I have fully surrendered on the Pattinson bandwagon, I must admit that he plays a good villain, and while he would still fit in a Cecil B. DeMille film, he also has learned a lot of restraint compared to his early performances. How does he make his eyes almost go all black at times? Theron does not get a lot of screentime, but she is convincing in her role as the woman who made Odysseus forget about home for seven years.

You know that the cast is stacked if you can blink and miss Mia Goth. Zendaya’s role is small but crucial and foundational and should be a huge surprise for the audience though if you pay attention to editing of certain flash back scenes thanks to editor Jennifer Lame, you may be able to figure it out. Unfortunately, if you are on the internet, you may not be able to scroll or swipe quickly enough to avoid comparisons of Elliot Page and Brad Pitt as Achilles, which led to my confusion that Page would be playing the same character. Nope. Page’s initial screen time is too brief, but the next time around, Page firmly plants his flag into a scene that in trailers looks rousing but has a completely different tenor and is key to the denouement’s catharsis. Lupita Nyong’o’s performance is not going to go as anyone is expecting and will bust the bubble of the myth versus the reality of the character that she plays. Bernthal is Bernthal and may be hitting the limits of his talents. In the biggest surprise, John Leguizamo has a role, and he looks like Marlon Brando! Benny Safdie is in there, but good luck recognizing him. His character has a certain mystique and is more like a statue than a person whose face is visible. Corey Hawkins was not heavily publicized as a cast member, but he managed to stand out in a crowd of talent.

The men who fought alongside Odysseus may not be named but deserve recognition. There are some Nolan staples in the background such as Josh Stewart, but if your life depended on it, you would not be able to recall most of the characters’ names. Himesh Patel as Eurylochus, Odysseus’ right-hand man, becomes a kind of spokesperson for the team. Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick did a seamless job with the royal women’s and servant’s clothes plus the helmets, which Odysseus and their men quickly put on as soon as they could without danger as a symbol of a little flash of pride. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema nailed the Hades sequence and the fantasy sequences. Was James Remar cast in the role of Tiresias? If so, it is his best performance to date.

While watching “The Odyssey,” you may find yourself asking if a new adaptation was really needed. Yes, the special effects and technology have come a long way if the supernatural events in the story can be brought to life without looking ridiculous and already dated most of the time, but the movie is more than excellent execution. (Cyclops kind of looked like they may owe some money to Jeffrey Combs for inspiration, and the action is shot more emotionally than comprehensively in Fred Astaire’s vein.) At the end of the film, Nolan’s framing of the story, including some plot twist revelations of the rumored threat to Ithaca, are not just some M. Night Shyamalan hijinks, which I love, but also conveys a meaningful, substantial lesson, which includes explicit and implicit struggles that veterans face after combat, the fragility of civilization and the unintended, ripple effect when it breaks in one corner of the world that can reach shores before the men who broke it.