polyurethanesmile_

Objectively this is a GOOD movie. A GREAT movie even. The tension, the fight scenes, Anne Hathaway, the insane amount of gruesome body horror was all blown out of the park. Can't say Elliot Page's vocal fry and Tom Holland's cali accent didn't completely throw me off but that's besides the point. My main gripe with this just comes down to how Christopher Nolan has chosen to depict the original poem. The women are stripped down to nothing but symbols and metaphors, the fundamental source of motivation for Odysseus' many character arcs yet with no true complexity of their own. In particular, Nolan puts forward a very male-minded attempt at replicating what he believes is a realistic representation of "feminine rage" multiple times (Penelope's "I want my husband" monologue and her overall stifled demeanour, Helen, Circe), and while the outbursts are entirely justified, each time the sentiment is undercut by what the movie wants us to believe is the more rational, level-headed male character. Intentional or not, it was a real disservice to the poem. I feel like this is where Christopher Nolan totally misses the mark in his adaptation, in reducing The Odyssey to a story about some tough warrior guy making his way back to the home from which he was indirectly exiled, without ever paying homage to the mysticality, depth, and beauty Homer imbued in his female characters. Not only that, but at certain points even the men in this movie aren't given enough intricacy. The scenes move like lightning speed, in fear of losing its audience, and thus in a way sacrifices a lot of the parts where the characters' emotional reckoning with everything happening would really solidify how much we can engage with the plot. Instead, we see everyone from Odysseus' crew tragically die off one by one and we're expected to move on like nothing happened?? With the resources and budget that was invested into an undeniably fantastical and action-loaded cinematic experience, all I wish is that the interpretation of the source material was better overall. Also the part where Tom holland goes "you're Odysseus, you're my father" was soo spiderman homecoming coded and genuinely laughable that I half expected him to end it with something like "the journey you travelled... that was... an odyssey..."

Girl look behind you there’s a texas chainsaw

some of the stuff that the demon says just sounds like early smosh amped up to 20