Christopher Nolan has reached Michelin Star chef status many times over at this point. At each step of the way he has sought to break new ground and dazzled viewers in the process. The Odyssey is his latest creation, a well-landed attempt at being the most bought-in-to-the-format IMAX gargantuan ever. Like many chefs though, his products have faced dilution in lock-step with his expanded ambition. That isn’t to say his latest spectacle isn’t enjoyable (it very much is) or that it isn’t thoughtful (many questions are posed!), but it isn’t the Michelin-level I needed it to be.

Damon cuts a brutish Odysseus, striking and mythological in a rustic way. He is not the refined hero-gods of yore, but someone to be admired. Stoic, remorseful, yet determined. He is not going to be denied his mission, but there is something missing in his portrayal; the utter guile, deceit, and pridefulness that defines The Poem’s Odysseus. While Nolan is free to interpret and redefine The Odyssey in his vision, what we’re left with is a bit of a tired trope. Damon suffers PTSD from his battles and agonizes over his war crimes. While a palatable story, it lacks the charm and moral ambiguity of the original character that was so seductive. Damon’s Odysseus is so one-track minded that he doesn’t sleep with Circe as he does in the Poem and Nolan doesn’t even dare show the shadows of infidelity with Calypso. Perhaps a character to pity and unendingly honorable is more true to the Heroic myths that we’ve collectively agreed upon, but the departure from the original Epic is felt. The lack of blood, lust, and even humor was certainly an artistic choice. In the absence, we have a vacuous character that nearly buckles holding it all together.

That Odysseus gives up his identity to Polyphemus and consequently faces the wrath of Poseidon, one of the most iconic moments from the original, is cut entirely was a shame. This was a moment of comedic relief that Nolan chose to eschew altogether to be consistent with the brooding nature of his world. His Odysseus has shades of Batman, Oppenheimer, men grappling with the weight of their might through stoicism. Nolan continues to cook what he knows with a different shell.

There is no relief in the movie, just island hopping to face one myth after another. Maybe Nolan was appealing to the party-happy 20 year olds who do the same in the Greek Islands every summer? There is a distinct video game quality to it all, largely owing to the plot that Nolan tries to rein in. The problem is that the characters we meet are undeveloped. Odysseus’ crew were largely soulless deadweights; even Eurylochus’, his lieutenants, death had no gravity. The rest of them are reduced to tattered rags with wash-away lines. Circe, the Witch, who had the most memorable scene of all, was nothing but a footnote of the running time. We ought to have spent more time with her than some of the metallic Ser-Get-Out-Of-My-Forests we stumble upon.

Nolan paints a bleak Mediterranean more in common with the North Sea than isles of Aegean. The exercise of the journey lacked any truly awe-inspiring moments. Polyphemus was an astronomically loud claymation action figure. The giants seemed out of place, and Scylla was nothing but a moment too much Nolan to not edit out. His set pieces left much to be desired and feel small in comparison to other epics. I have to admire his commitment to using real locations, but the temples have a certain cheesecake factory feeling to them. Well maybe the stone is at least more real.

We are left with a homecoming that feels necessary after the whiplash that Nolan brings about at each stop. A final pairing that somehow puts a tidy ribbon on an otherwise uneven meal. Anne Hathaway’s Penelope is incredibly believable as a faithful wife. The cast of suitors are unendingly rapturous, led by Robert Pattinson’s Antinous. Even Tom Holland delivers though I half expected him to belt out a MR STAARK at any moment.

Damon satisfies with the crowd pleasing reveal (pluck?) of the bow before he ambles around in his final action scene. Pattinson is reduced to a yelling weapons identifier, hardly befitting a sequence that deserved a true fighting villain. Yes yes, that was not the intended characterization of Antinous but still, we were deserving of more earned valor even after all that was wrought. Of course, Nolan also made the final destruction of the suitors an impossible to follow scene in a candle-lit fishbowl. That withstanding, this is an addition to the Odyssey pantheon that deserves yelps and praise. Nolan is the director that receives Stars just by the virtue of his pedigree alone; while this may not rise to that level of acclaim, 7 hells be damned pin this bronzed treat in the Michelin Guide somewhere.