Nolan's The Odyssey: technically stunning but emotionally hollow, readers say

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The Odyssey is the summer’s biggest film: an adaptation of an almost 3,000 year old poem that everyone is talking about. So what was our readers’ verdict?

As expected from Christopher Nolan, The Odyssey is an immense technical achievement: vast in scale, beautifully shot and carried by an absorbing soundscape, particularly impressive on the Imax screen. I did enjoy it, but it did not resonate with me emotionally as some of Nolan’s other films have. For a film reaching for something deep and mythic, I’m not sure it felt quite as profound as it wanted to be. I also wasn’t wholly convinced by the casting. There were so many big names that at times I found myself seeing the actors more than the characters. Matt Damon, especially in the island scenes, reminded me of his early Bourne performances when the character had lost his memory. Charlize Theron felt underused, Jon Bernthal seemed to bring his familiar swagger, and Tom Holland did not fully convince me in the more conflicted moments. Samantha Morton, however, was excellent, as she always is. Samiul Kamal-Uddin, 49, London, UK

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