Written & Directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Samantha Morton, Bennie Safdie, John Bernthal, Mia Goth, Elliot Page, James Remar, Charlize Theron…and quite a few more.

I got up at 9am on the day the ticket sales opened up for the IMAX to see The Odyssey. I was shocked when looking at the seating options that so many tickets had already been sold. That’s the type of frantic nature that represents The Odyssey away from the screen and on the screen. While Odysseus has this desire to go home, his desperation also fills a need from the fans of Christopher Nolan to see his latest movie.

As I sat in the corner of the IMAX theatre, J Row, I wanted to be blown away from the start. I wasn’t. It has a soft opening and keeps at a steady pace, then by the last hour you are gripped. You are sweating by the overdone air conditioning and your winter coat and the tension on screen.

A friend assumed this was just epic action and CGI all over the screen. I told her there wasn’t one CGI shot in the whole movie. Knowing that going into The Odyssey blows me away at a whole new level. One of my biggest surprises from The Odyssey is actually how scary it can get and that did that to me twice in the movie and I didn’t see it coming at all.

Samantha Morton shows up from The Walking Dead and her performance got a standing ovation from the crew filming The Odyssey. The only other performer to receive that level of compliment on a Christopher Nolan set was Health Ledger from The Dark Knight.

The movie uses its locations well. Scotland, Greece, Italy, Morocco and Iceland. It wouldn’t be a Christopher Nolan movie without an Iceland shoot. With all the depictions on screen of HELL over the years. It’s great to see some originality back in how that is depicted.

The open sea scenes are the ones that stay with me after witnessing the movie. The non CGI dolphins were such a highlight, almost like the karaoke scene in Project Hail Mary it just gives the audience a lift it needs to keep on going.

The destruction of TROY scene is epic in itself and the fire and fear of being in a sacked city is bought to cinematic perfection. The score, using instruments from that time is at time unsettling yet also brings an originally and vibe. One of my favorite sets is the palace. It just looks so ancient Greece. As a viewer I enjoyed living there.

The Odyssey isn’t my favourite Christopher Nolan movie, yet I feel outside of Oppenheimer it’s his most important. Only one year ago, the internet was full of “Death of Cinema” headlines. This movie gives “cinema” a crucial gear change right when some momentum was coming back, where patrons are coming back. To read 70,000 tickets have been sold for IMAX Melbourne alone is inspiring.

“Much have I suffered, laboured long and hard by now in the waves and wars. Add this to the total – bring the trial on.” – Odysseus.