Charlize Theron stunned in a see-through skirt as she promoted The Odyssey in South Korea on Monday, appearing alongside director Christopher Nolan and co-star Matt Damon as the film passed $450 million at the global box office.
The 50-year-old actress, who plays the nymph Calypso in Nolan's epic, wore a pinstripe shirt with a wraparound plastic skirt and long leather gloves, teamed with polka dot stockings, a lace underlay and a glimpse of her bra beneath the sheer layers.
She finished the look with a mussed bob hairstyle as she posed with Nolan and Damon at the event.
Her futuristic skirt made for a striking contrast with the ancient setting of the film she was there to promote.
Odysseus, Penelope and Calypso
The Odyssey is Nolan's adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic, following the Greek king Odysseus as he tries to make his way home after the Trojan War to reunite with his wife, Penelope. Damon plays Odysseus, while Anne Hathaway plays Penelope, who must fend off suitors during her husband's long absence. Theron's Calypso is the nymph who keeps Odysseus trapped on her island, Ogygia, for seven years after the war.
Theron nailed the ensemble as she helped plug the film's huge box office haul.
A record-breaking reception
The Odyssey holds a 99 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes, the highest of any of Nolan's 13 feature films and ahead of The Dark Knight's 94 per cent.
Reviews have been almost universally glowing. The Daily Mail's Brian Viner called it "a glorious cinematic experience, a triumph both of story-telling and movie-making," led by a cast including Damon, Tom Holland, Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Theron and Zendaya. "I rarely say this of movies nearly three hours long; one viewing simply isn't enough," he added.
The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw went further, writing that "Nolan goes god-tier with a breathtaking epic of men, monsters and moral metamorphosis," praising its "thrilling ambition, boldness, seriousness, generosity and flair."
Praise with reservations
Criticism has largely centred on Nolan's decision to modernise the dialogue and depart from the source text. Empire's John Nugent called it "as elegant and economical an adaptation as it's possible to make of such a lengthy tome," while warning that "some purists may bristle at the liberties taken with the text, with significant omissions." He said the dialogue "inevitably loses some of the poetry and lyricism of the original text" but "gains in visual and structural poetry."
Historian Mary Beard, writing for The Times, said she liked that Telemachus, played by Holland, refers to Odysseus as "Dad," describing the film as "an epic, and a myth, in the here and now, not set in a hoary past."
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film as "a meditative action movie both immense and intimate" but flagged "some questionable casting choices," singling out Holland as "wrong for the role" despite being "always an appealing screen presence." He said Holland, who like Pattinson plays his character with an American accent, came across as "Peter Parker in a tunic, sapping the gravitas from Telemachus' path to maturity."
Deadline's Gregory Nussen disagreed, calling Holland's performance "his strongest one to date." "His performance certainly seems tinged with the courageous naivety of Spider-Man, insisting on trying to influence those much more cunning and physically capable than he," he wrote. "Holland may be playing a child, but his performance is bursting with a newfound maturity."
Other critics singled out the film's women. The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey said the film is "brought to life by a cast of seemingly thousands, but it's the women (among them Anne Hathaway and Samantha Morton) who steal the show."
Theron also spoke with British film producer Emma Thomas during the event.
Casting backlash before release
Before the review embargo lifted, The Odyssey had drawn attention for what were described as "all the wrong reasons," sparking backlash over its "bizarre" casting, accusations that it fuels "brutal repression," and criticism from Elon Musk. Nolan defended his decision to cast Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy after Musk called the casting "historically inaccurate." RogerEbert.com editor-at-large Matt Zoller Seitz called Nolan's casting "not just defensible but inspiring."
