I had extremely high expectations (or perhaps better described as fears) for this film. Nolan hasn't produced a "bad" film in practically his entire career, and he's been on a hot streak recently to top it off. I will say this film did not meet my expectations, but it was still excellent in many ways.

Let's start with the good. The visuals are stunning without question, both on the ocean and on land. The story is well-adapted to a movie of this length, even if everyone will have one or two favorite moments from the book that got left out. I also enjoyed the acting in general, Damon did a much better job than I had thought alongside a very strong supporting cast. There are just a lot of very enjoyable spectacles throughout the film that keep you wanting more and more, and Nolan is happy to provide. 

However there are definitely some complaints I'd like to voice. There seemed to be some disconnects between different aspects of the film, and they seem to mostly stem from Nolan trying to "modernize" both the story and themes of the work while keeping the core of The Odyssey intact. The characters have modern sensibilities, such as Penelope's anger towards not being respected as a woman, but this doesn't actually manifest at all in the story (or in the reactions of any other character). Odysseus blames himself for the innocent deaths of the Trojan War, but seemingly doesn't care about the lives of any island-dweller he happens to come across. I do think the "modernization" worked in many cases, such as the dialog, but in the themes it missed the mark a tad.

I also didn't appreciate the attempted connection to real-world events, such as the Bronze Age. Just unnecessary for a mythological work and it actually takes away from overall feel of the film. But overall I think Nolan did quite a good job of bringing this world to life, giving it character and making it seem real while still diving head-first into more of the fantastical elements. It is an "epic" in a true sense of the word, and one of the best ones I've seen in that regard.