By Patrick Lugo and Gene Ching
When it comes to the most venerated literary epics of humankind, while China has its four Great Masterpieces (sidaqishu 四大奇書), those are preceded by the West’s Homeric Greek poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey. The Iliad is considered the oldest extant book of all, attributed to the 8th century BCE. It is about the end of the Trojan War. The Odyssey is the sequel, recounting Odysseus' journey home after the Trojan War. It is within The Odyssey where the tale of the Trojan Horse is recounted, a central plot point in Christopher Nolan’s new film THE ODYSSEY. For KungFuMagazine.com, it’s auspicious as 2026 is the Year of the Horse.
Thousands of Years of Adaptations
Before it became literature The Odyssey was a cornerstone of oral storytelling and culture for societies interacting along the Mediterranean Sea. It’s been said this epic straddles the beginning of widespread literacy sometime in the middle of the 5th century. The poems' original language can be dated to long before this period. Greeks began adopting a modified version of the Phoenician alphabet to create their own writing system during the 8th century BCE. If the Homeric poems were the earliest products of that literacy, they would have been composed towards the late part of that same century.
There were over 30 English translations published all before the 20th century, and another 40 English translations have been published since. Its most recent edition was published by the University of Chicago Press in May of 2025. Outside the literary translations there’s no real limit to the number of adaptations which have been created from this tale.
An early example would be Troilus and Criseyde, a tragic love story by Geoffrey Chaucer (1380–1387) written in Middle English in the 1380s. This epic poem would be later adapted for the stage by William Shakespeare; set during the Trojan War it chronicles the doomed romance of the Trojan prince Troilus and priestess Cressida. Consider it an early version of what would become Romeo and Juliet. And when it comes to classic literature, the modernist novel Ulysses by James Joyce recounts themes of The Odyssey, swapping Odysseus’ decade-long journey for a single day in Dublin. At the beginning of the millennium, the Coen Brothers’ OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? (2000) was another modern very loose adaptation of this tale. Since The Odyssey was literally the first epic, there’s a long list of derivatives.
The Modern Amphitheater
The massive scope of The Odyssey is hard to contain in a single movie, which is why IMAX is the ultimate choice for such a monstrous undertaking. Director Christopher Nolan has been championing IMAX since BATMAN BEGINS (2005) and throughout his Dark Knight trilogy (2008, 2012) to INTERSTELLAR (2014) to DUNKIRK (2017) for which he won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director, and most recently OPPENHEIMER (2023). With THE ODYSSEY, Nolan claims the crown as King of IMAX. THE ODYSSEY is the first film ever to be shot entirely in IMAX.
However, long before IMAX and the movies, before literacy in the general public, it was all about oral storytellers. Ancient storytellers had influencer power among the people of their time, and Nolan does the audience the favor of introducing just such a storyteller early in the movie. It sets up a meta-context as the story of Odysseus precedes the appearance of the character itself, lending more credence to his heroic character. This one trick makes the whole movie self-aware and leaves Nolan free to include storytelling techniques explored throughout his entire filmography.
Nolan’s stylistic strengths are well served in this movie; if you’ve read some form of a translation of the original poem this suits its structure. There’s the nonlinear storytelling like from his past movies THE FOLLOWING (1998) and TENET (2020) as well as from MEMENTO (2000) which also calls to mind amnesiac themes like Odysseus’ addiction to lotus eating. There’s also some of the dream logic and totems as from INCEPTION (2010); Odysseus has his own version of that trope. The internet has already called out the Dark Knight trilogy as noticed in the trailers, but this is a much deeper dive into all of the related social commentary. All is wrapped up in a massive sensory IMAX experience.
However, Matt Damon’s Odysseus is not a simple champion. His heroism is plagued by guilt and PTSD as he grapples with defying Zeus’ law, a turning point for the collapse of the mighty Greek empire. Nolan reforges a 28-century old tale into the most modern big audience medium, bringing timeless lessons about the impact of war on the individual and the society, eternal themes that make this tale one worthy of repeating for every generation. It’s here a black clad Agamemnon (Benny Safdie) is the embodiment of empire and a meditation on complicity with civilizing violence, looming ominously like Darth Vader.
Nolan assembles a top tier ensemble cast. Anne Hathaway sears with noble frustration and indignity as Penelope. Robert Pattinson’s Antinous is the caricature of sleazy villains. Charlize Theron is subtly seductive as Calypso. John Leguizamo’s Eumaeus is the epitome of loyalty. Elliot Page’s Sinon literally goes through hell to deliver one of the most gut-wrenching accusations of Odysseus’ guilt. Lupita Nyong’o’s casting as the sisters Helen and Clytemnestra is a boldly colorblind move, and she shines in both characters. Tom Holland (Telemachus) and Zendaya (Athena) are odd premonitions of the upcoming SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY, due out two weeks following the premiere of THE ODYSSEY, although they play very different characters and don’t share any scenes. The whole cast rises to the occasion, undoubtedly provoked by the massive IMAX cameras reminding them that their faces will be 50 to 990 feet high.
Kickboxing Charybdis
The Fight Coordinator for THE ODYSSEY is Ashley Beck, who has trained a wide range of martial arts styles over the course of thirty years; Freestyle Kickboxing (5th Degree Black Belt), Capoeira, Taekwondo, Shotokan, Aikido, and 12 years in Martial Arts Tricking and Acrobatics. He began his training in 1986 at the age of four. His father Brian Beck got him started so young by personally training him in Kickboxing. This is something Brian does to this day; as recently as March of this year, Brian Beck was grading black belts at Extreme Kickboxing Academy in Scarborough North Yorkshire, UK.
By the age of 25, Ashley Beck earned titles in Musical Forms & Weapons from the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (WAKO). He was the head coach in one of Europe’s leading forms teams, regularly competing on the international level. WAKO still hosts World Championships biennially, alternating between Adult (Seniors/Masters) and Youth (Children/Cadets/Juniors) categories in different years. The next major World Championship is the WAKO World Championship (All Disciplines) for Children, Cadets and Juniors, taking place in Jesolo, Italy, from September 18–27, 2026.
Leaving work as a fulltime martial arts instructor with his father, Beck launched “Havok Fight Design” in 2021, an online school focused on teaching stunt fighting techniques. Amidst all of this, he continues fight coordinating, creating his own short movies, fight scenes and action designs. When not on the set, he continues to provide regular instructional screen fighting workshops that stunt performers and stunt trainees can attend to improve their skills.
So what other Beck-influenced movies might readers of KungFuMagazine have also seen? Let’s begin with his role as an unnamed Ninja in NINJA ASSASSIN (2009). Along with stunts for that movie Beck has also been a stunt performer in WRATH OF THE TITANS (2012), SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN (2012), KICK-ASS 2 (2013), DRACULA UNTOLD (2014 Stunt Double for Luke Evans), ASSASSIN’S CREED (2016: Stunt Double for Michael Fassbender), INTO THE BADLANDS (2018: 3 EPISODES) and STAR WARS: RISE OF SKYWALKER (2019).*
Beck would come to fight coordinating nearly ten years into his career as a stunt performer. His first work was in the Netflix series WARRIOR NUN (2020: 8 episodes). Another movie which had him provide fight coordination was the scrapped BATGIRL movie (which we discussed over in our review of a SUPERGIRL). In 2024, he would do some uncredited fight choreography on the set of DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE but earn a fight coordinator credit for his work on 8 episodes of Amazon’s LORD OF THE RINGS: RINGS OF POWER series. These days you can find his fight coordinating in 7 episodes of the Amazon series CITADEL and, of course THE ODYSSEY.
What IMAX does well is big battlefield scenes. The siege of Troy is expansive, chaotic and harrowing, bringing the savagery and toll of war home. However, IMAX is flawed in close combat. The focus doesn’t adjust so well making the fight choreography difficult to follow, especially with some ‘shaky cam’ cinematography. It’s almost too big to see the complexity of Beck’s fight choreography.
However, this might have been a directorial decision, a device to amplify the chaos of combat. An earlier training sequence where Telemachus learns a new tactic is sharp and clear. When he deploys that tactic in live combat, it’s harder to see. But we connoisseurs of combat know it’s coming. It’s always a delight to see training-to-application scenes in movies - that hearkens back to countless Kung Fu movies from THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (1978) to MULAN (1998) to THE FURIOUS (2026).
Sharp eyed readers of KFM will also spot a couple of familiar faces. Our old friend Alfred Hsing of TRAIN DREAMS (2025) has a role as one of the background suitors. Meanwhile one-time MartialArtsMart.com model and TKD champion Will Yun Lee can be seen rowing among Odysseus’ crew until he jumps overboard heeding the Sirens’ call.
Will THE ODYSSEY Make It Home?
THE ODYSSEY cost an estimated $250 million, making it the most expensive film Nolan has made to date. So far, 2026 has delivered some great blockbusters, but they’ve failed to cash in at the box office. At this writing, SUPERGIRL has only made $115M, which constitutes a $120M loss, given its production budget. MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE is at $113M against a $200M budget STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU has made a paltry $342M to become the lowest-grossing live-action Star Wars film to date. Will THE ODYSSEY be able to make it?
A factor close to the heart of KungFuMagazine.com is the Warcraft Redemption. WARCRAFT (2017) bombed in the USA, but it became one of the highest grossing films in China. And when it comes to IMAX, China is rising like a waking dragon. There are 360 IMAX theaters in the USA as of this writing. At the end of last year, there were 797 IMAX theaters in China, with another 215 slated for construction this year. There have been hundreds of films released in IMAX. All were Hollywood films until AFTERSHOCK (2010), which was the first IMAX film created outside of the USA. Since then, over a hundred China-made IMAX films have been shown in China. Many of these were only shown in IMAX in China. China loves IMAX.
THE ODYSSEY exemplifies many themes that will resonate with Chinese audiences, predominantly the heroism of sacrifice. As the newly crowned King of IMAX, perhaps Nolan tips his China hand with a towering vision of a flaming Trojan horse, so auspicious for 2026, the Year of the Fire Horse.
* Most of these films were reviewed on KungFuMagazine.com previously, however we’re still in the process of restoring over 500 of our archived articles at this writing.
Author
Patrick Lugo is a freelance author, illustrator & comic creator who consults on comic Crowdfunding campaigns when not running one of his own. His acclaimed graphic novel series A Tiger’s Tale vols. 1 & 2 can be purchased at ATiger’sTale.com, as well as his newest comic UNDEAD KUNGFU GHOST KILLER #1. He has also been Senior Graphic Artist for Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine.
Gene Ching is the Publisher of KungFuMagazine.com and the author of Shaolin Trips.
Thread
