Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is just about to hit the 2026 movie schedule, and the excitement for the historical epic seems to be building. The hype seemingly rose when the first reactions to Nolan’s latest flick hit social media over a week ago and were filled with praise. Well, full reviews from the film are now pouring in from critics, and the overall verdict seems to be that Nolan has another masterpiece on his hands. Still, there’s one common issue that reviewers seem to have with the Matt Damon-led flick. Of course, Nolan’s newest motion picture is based on Homer’s millenia-old Greek poem and, despite making a few changes (for which he’s received a dumb question or two), Nolan mostly seems to stick to the source material. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praises the British director’s take on the beloved story, calling it a “meditative action movie.” However, like some of his peers, Rooney makes note of some problems with the film’s “flow,” saying: Christopher Nolan’s passionate love affair with the Premium Large Format moviegoing experience peaks with The Odyssey, a gigantic undertaking that marks the first feature shot entirely with IMAX Film Cameras. The result is a meditative action movie both immense and intimate, albeit one whose flow is impeded by the inherently episodic nature of the nonlinear source material and some questionable casting choices. Still, audiences hungry for the kind of brawny all-star spectacle now largely confined to sci-fi and comic book tentpoles should turn out for this bold retelling of Homer’s epic poem.To be more specific, this “flow” refers to the film’s pacing, and this is a critique that’s occasionally come up with some of Nolan’s past films. The Oscar winner is well known for helming long movies that can drag in certain spots, even when they are compelling. In terms of Odyssey, Variety’s Guy Lodge also lauds Nolan’s take as being “thorough, robust and attentive both to scholarly detail and old-school moviemaking craft.” While Lodge also makes note of the thrills, he also makes another point:But if this ‘Odyssey’ is consistently involving and frequently dazzling, it’s never exactly moving; it keeps the eyes and ears so lavishly occupied, while engaging the mind with its structural games of cat’s cradle, you almost don’t notice, or mind, that your heart isn’t quite in it. Almost. 'The Odyssey' stirs on a scene-to-scene basis, as its haplessly drifting hero’s long-awaited homecoming is repeatedly waylaid with any number of cruel obstacles, proceeding with the frustrating, inexorable tension of a bad dream.As literary buffs will tell you, The Odyssey centers around Odysseus (Matt Damon), the King of Ithaca as he seeks to return home to his wife and son following the end of the Trojan War. Along the way, he encounters great dangers, including gods and a cyclops that dwells in a “dank” cave. Famously, the story is told in a non-linear way, and The Associated Press’ Jake Coyle mentions that in his own review, which praises the book-to-screen adaptation as a faithful and impressive piece of work. Still, he also has nitpicks with pacing:The journey — you may have heard, it’s about the journey — is sometimes a little clunky, and the sheer Nolan-ness of the production, not to mention the historic nature of the tale, inevitably saps it of some freshness. You could make a credible case that Nolan has already made a movie about a guy trying to reach his family through strata of mind-warping illusion, and it’s called 'Inception.' Such is the trouble with urtexts. But ‘The Odyssey’ is rarely not transfixing, and it’s a ripping adventure story, besides. At the least, it’s the definitive big-screen adaptation of one of literature’s oldest tales — a not-too-shabby accomplishment for a filmmaker of restless ambition.Likewise, Laura Sirikul of Forbes mentions that Nolan’s latest has “pacing issues” and that “Some parts felt like the scene dragged on longer than it should have”. However, Sirkul – like her fellow critics still has immense praise for what the Dark Knight helmer has accomplished with this take on Homer’s work:The Odyssey is a visual masterpiece filled with grand production and set designs, detailed costumes, and the most unsettling action sequences. Like J. Robert Oppenheimer, Odysseus (Damon) is tormented by his weapon of destruction – the Trojan Horse, resulting in the deaths of the people of Troy, his fellow soldiers, and countless others who suffered from the effects of war.Christopher Nolan fans who were already pumped about The Odyssey (in spite of any backlash) may be even more excited after seeing the early reviews. As of this writing, the film holds a 98% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and is certified fresh. So, while the film’s pacing may drag depending on your mileage, it sounds like audiences won’t regret taking in Nolan’s completely IMAX-filmed movie. Check out the film for yourself when it opens in theaters on July 17.