How depressing.
> why is Circe randomly giving prophetic advice?
Nitpick: she does in the book give Odysseus a detailed prophecy and instructions to go consult the dead when he leaves her island.
For anyone interested in the original story, the book is available in a few good modern translations and very readable (e.g. Emily Wilson): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey_(Emily_Wilson_translat...
Also I really like Circe as a sympathetic adaption of part of this story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circe_(novel)
Going to see this anyway, but disappointed to hear it attempts to flatten the story in this way.
> ODYSSEUS IS NOT ODYSSEUS
> They take out all his tricks!!! No overcoming the Cyclops through trickery, no deceiving Circe! Guy whose main epithets (and intro in opening lines) is as a trickster and he does no tricks!!!
> He is essentially written as Achilles, inserted into Odysseus’ plot. Very puritan action hero who beats everyone up and challenges everyone and surges into unsafe situations without scouting. I find him to be a rather Americanised, war-guilty action hero (á la Iraq or Vietnam related films).
Not that I do not like stereotypical action heroes, but from Odysseus I would indeed expect more cleverness than physical prowess. Unfortunately, I cannot remember when I have last seen in a movie an action hero that could be characterized as intelligent, instead of just as extremely lucky.
Also the remainder of the analysis from TFA is quite good and I agree with its author that Nolan has omitted many of the best parts of the original Odyssey, in the effort to force upon it a quite different story, so it would have been better if he would have chosen from the beginning some other classical work to adapt, among those closer to the story he actually wanted to tell in his movie.
The Cyclops encounter was indeed deeply disappointing, because I recall vividly through retellings, how he deceived and defeated the Cyclops, and this brute-force bludgeoning was a rather appalling update.
Nevertheless, overall I greatly enjoyed the film: it was very loud, quite violent, full of action, and lots of intrigue, double-crossings, and suspenseful twists and turns. Anyone who's attacking the "DEI casting" is full of bollocks. Absolutely fantastic cast of characters.