Before nearly everything goes wrong for him, Odysseus, famed Greek King of Ithaca, had one really good idea – or did he? As embodied by Matt Damon, this celebrated architect of an elegant and deadly war tool finds the fragments of his life flashing before him Oppenheimer-style (i.e. in either no particular order or in an absolutely meticulous series of absorbing episodes) in a way only writer/director Christopher Nolan could summon to the screen. The acclaimed director’s The Odyssey (A-) is epic in every conceivable way: high adventure on the open seas, palace intrigue, brutal battles, the ultimate hero’s journey and a theory behind the case of Homer’s epic poem that cracks it open like a seismic siren song. Damon is fantastic in the jacked but world-weary central role, and Anne Hathaway and Robert Pattinson are solid and a little campy as his estranged wife and her villainous suitor, respectively. The rest of the star-studded cast takes a bit of a dramatic back seat to the spectacle, stop-motion animation and visceral clarion call of it all. The adventure sequences are absorbing and march to a persistent drummer (his name is Ludwig Göransson) including Trojan War flashbacks, an encounter with Cyclops, an unconventional pig pickin’ with a witch and an obligatory trip to hell. Hoyte van Hoytema’s all-IMAX cinematography is a wonder to behold in both sweeping vistas and intimate chambers. At times the film is a more unpleasant and grisly experience than some might expect, but you do have to descend into darkness to ever find the light. The final act is pretty satisfying after it gets adrift for a spell. All in all, a great escape, a magnum opus with a bit of Big Think thrown in; in other words, it’s Nolan through and through. Bountiful, practically-filmed battles and a mostly satisfying human drama make for one of the most ambitious summer movies released in a long time. All hail cinema kings Nolan and Damon.
Mel Gibson’s sophomore directorial effort is a giant leap forward, a rousing 13th century Scottish epic about the life of real-life martyr and hero William Wallace, Braveheart (B). Gibson the actor does a credible job embodying the hero and rallying men to battle for sprawling battle sequences. The screenplay lets him down a bit, as it’s not great. But oh, the final reel, it’s enough to break your Mel-tale heart!
Anchored by solid performances by Brad Pitt and others and filled with gorgeous scenery, Edward Zwick’s Legends of the Fall (B+) is a romantic ode to family and friendship in the early 20th century. Set in the shadows of the Montana Rockies, the film tells the story of three brothers (Pitt, Aidan Quinn, Henry Thomas) a stern father (Anthony Hopkins), a love interest (Julia Ormond) and a world on the brink of love and war. Prodigal son themes and some less successful WWI sequences are all eclipsed by the force of nature that is the central smoldering romances and breathtaking photography told to the score of James Horner. It’s a poetic, intoxicating story about living and learning and taking the journey.
