I'm convinced that few things are easier than being an access media critic. If a major studio releases something that assists in pushing a socio-political message that's friendly to "modern" and "progressive" values, then it's a good film.
Does it have to be a good film?
Wrong question. Whether it's good or not doesn't matter. The message is all you need to worry about.
As of right now, Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" is a knockout, according to critics. As of this writing, the access media has given it a whopping 98 percent "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the highest rated of Nolan's films ever.
Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' debuts on Rotten Tomatoes at 98% with 132 reviews
— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) July 15, 2026
The highest rated film of Nolan's career:
▪️ The Odyssey — 98%
▪️ The Dark Knight — 94%
▪️ Memento — 94%
▪️ Oppenheimer — 93%
▪️ Dunkirk — 92% pic.twitter.com/GkkhxbPHZx
The issue here is that this 98 percent cannot be anything but dishonest based on the rules we've been taught by these professional movie critics themselves.
As I've been covering, Nolan's "The Odyssey" has been soaked in modernity to the point where many are honestly flabbergasted at these choices, at least from him. This includes things like a black Helen of Troy and her black twin sister... a character that wasn't a twin sister in the first place. A transgender soldier, and Zendaya, who is just in everything nowadays, to the point of giving the audience fatigue with her very presence.
Travis Scott, a rapper, is playing the bard who tells the story, and the verbiage used is so modern it doesn't feel like a Greek epic, but a bunch of modern actors putting on costumes and reciting lines written by a lazy screenwriter who didn't bother with authenticity. This lack of authenticity even extends to the costumes.
It's a modern "reimagining," and we all know how much the access media loves those. Every movie news outlet, from Variety to independently run webzines, can't stop raving about the film. leftist culture warriors can't stop pointing at the RT score and laughing at the "chuds."
Read: Yes, the 'Chuds' Were Right Again, and Will Keep Being Right
But all this only makes me think there's absolutely nothing to this movie but spectacle. At this point, the critics want this movie to be incredible because the politics that inspired it are their chosen kind, and it's more important to be right politically than honest intellectually.
There are very few critics I actually wholeheartedly trust to be honest. The Critical Drinker is one who I think can even be too lenient on a film from time to time, but another is Chris Gore, a guy I've been watching since he was a talking head on G4.
As Gore notes, it feels too modern for its own good, and there are moments, especially in the first half, where it drags. He notes the movie isn't all bad, in fact, he says "it's not a disaster," and even the controversial castings, despite being silly, were so short they were more like cameos.
But his friend, Alan Ng, said something that I think made me sour on the movie altogether, and it's how the actors in the movie appear as themselves, not the characters they're acting as, and it's all because of the injection of modernity. It kills your submersion into the world.
I have a feeling that when I see it (yes, I'm going to see it), I'm going to have the same reaction. I'm not going to hate every single bit of it. Nolan is a talented director with some great ideas, but for me, the fact that this was Nolan, and the fact that the movie tripped up so hard on basic things, is probably going to amplify the issues I have with the movie to begin with.
And I think the movie will still do well. I don't think it'll reach the billion or so it needs to make a profit, but I don't think it'll be as sad and pitiful as a Disney release.
See what I'm doing?
I'm giving the film my honest predictions even though I hate many of the decisions that were made during its making. Even when I find things I like about movies that scratch my political itch, I can still tell you whether or not there's a quality film there.
Read: 'Citizen Vigilante' Is a Must-See Bad Movie
It just means having a little bit of honesty, which is something that access media critics abandoned long ago in favor of first watches, invites, and access to inner circles.
You're going to see how good the movie actually is when the audience reviews start rolling out. While even those have to be taken with a grain of salt, at least the overall mood within the audience will be far more honest than the blatant nonsense happening among professional critics.
