The prologue for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is now playing in IMAX theaters before re-releases of Sinners and One Battle After Another. Billed as the first film shot entirely in IMAX, it has drawn heavy interest from movie fans. Early reactions, though, have been far from what many expected. Viewers leaving preview screenings say the scene feels flat, with some calling it “a major letdown.” A few even joked they would rather rewatch Troy than sit through Nolan’s version of the ancient tale.
The short five-minute sequence follows Matt Damon as Odysseus during the siege of Troy. The story revisits the famous Trojan horse, showing the soldiers hidden inside before attacking at night. While the setup promised high tension, audiences described it as predictable and emotionally distant. Some felt the visual scope could not make up for what they saw as weak energy and stretched pacing.
It’s same as Troy
— Chaitanya Gandhile 🇮🇳 (@ChaituGandhile7) December 12, 2025
So we’ll all gonna be comparing this to Troy
Right ?
— nour967AS 🇵🇸 (@ali98_noor) December 12, 2025
Well yes… the story is about Odysseus and his journey home after being lost when the Trojan War ends. You people realize that Troy is based on a greek poem which is followed by another poem “The Odyssey”?
— ToastYime (@ToastYime) December 12, 2025
There was nothing in that prologue that inspired awe
— George Zip (@TheGeorgeZip) December 12, 2025
Bronze age greek warrior 🤡🤡🤡 pic.twitter.com/15bFTl4BFw
— Dragonfly (@dragonfly_gr) December 13, 2025
The reaction was surprising given Nolan’s history of impressive openings. His 2008 film The Dark Knight featured one of the most celebrated introductions in modern cinema, with a tense bank heist revealing Heath Ledger’s Joker. By contrast, early viewers of The Odyssey noted that the IMAX presentation added little excitement and that the sequence lacked any standout moment or twist.
Reports also mentioned that the sound design and score, typically strong points in Nolan’s films like Dunkirk and Interstellar, failed to connect here. One viewer described the experience as “loud, but not thrilling.” Others compared the mythological setting unfavorably to Wolfgang Petersen’s 2004 film Troy, saying it had “more heart and better storytelling” despite being over twenty years old.
What was meant to be a dramatic tease of Nolan’s upcoming epic has now sparked debate about whether the director has lost touch with audiences. Some critics argue that The Odyssey might rely too much on IMAX spectacle and not enough on strong character work. If early impressions hold, Nolan could face one of his toughest receptions yet for a film meant to capture the grandeur of history and myth.
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Todd Fisher
Todd lives in Northern California with "the wife," "the kids," "the dogs," "that cat," and he occasionally wears pants. His upcoming release, "Are You Woke Enough Yet?", is the culmination of too much time on social media and working in the film industry.
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