Christopher Nolan knows a great Greek epic when he sees it.

Take it from me. I know what movies deserve to be shown in theaters. What differentiates between a big screen and a small screen is the quality that each movie has. Think of how great “Project Hail Mary” looked in 70mm, think of how pitiful “The Electric State” was to the point of it deserving a Netflix release, think of how watching a special screening of “Jaws” helps bring back the movie-going experience, and think of how the live-action remake of “Moana” made the fatal mistake of being shown in theaters.

Now, we move on to Christopher Nolan’s version of Homer’s ancient Greek epic “The Odyssey,” and I empathize the word “epic.” With a long list of big budgeted movies including the “Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception,” “Dunkirk,” “Tenet,” and “Oppenheimer,” he is a filmmaker who knows the meaning of the word “blockbuster.” He doesn’t make these movies to make money; he makes them because he has a vision. In “The Odyssey.” he honors the original story while taking different angles and allowing the A-list actors to resonate with the characters.

You know the story of how Odysseus (Matt Damon), the Greek king of Ithaca, is part of the Trojan War and takes a long journey home to reunite with his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland). I mean “long,” because the voyage lasts for 20 years. We see him and his soldiers dealing with the cyclops Polyphemus (Bill Irwin), the witch Circe (Samantha Morton), and the nymph Calypso (Charlize Theron), and we see him being protected by the goddess Athena (Zendaya). Meanwhile, his son is determined to find him, while his wife may have to marry Antinous (Robert Pattinson), who plans to take the throne.

There has been some controversy about the armor and ships in the trailers, as well as casting non-Greek actors with American and British accents and Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy. Some people would say that iron armor didn’t exist back in the day, and some would say that Nolan casting the “12 Years a Slave” star would be considered to be forced diversity. In my defense, Hitler never got his face blown off in a movie theater, but Quentin Tarantino liked to think so with “Inglorious Basterds,” I believe in diversity, and you’ve seen movies like “Ben-Hur,” “The Ten Commandments,” and “Gladiator,” among others. If Nolan wants to represent “The Odyssey” in his own light, that’s his right. Leave him alone.

I don’t go to the movies for history lessons, and I’ve already learned about Homer’s story in high school long before this version came to be. I go to the movies to see originality, art, and commitment. This version of “The Odyssey” is a reminder of all those qualities. You need to see the special effects of the cyclops and how scary the encounter is, you need to hear Ludwig Goransson’s score that makes the surround sound move the theater, and you need to see how Hoyte van Hoytema’s cinematography captures the gritty ambiance on what the Trojan War has brought upon the soldiers. See it in IMAX if you can.

Damon has proven himself to be an actor in his 20s, 30s, 40s, and now 50s, indicating he is an ageless actor. And he plays Odysseus with whatever humanity he places inside him. That is if the Greek king has any humanity left in him. Credit must also go to Holland for having the youth and spirit as Telemachus, and for taking his acting abilities further. And you can see the emotions in Hathaway’s eyes as she expresses her remorse for her husband.

Other than being a producer on “Batman v Superman” and “Transcendence,” there isn’t a single bad movie Nolan has made. And I think we can agree that “The Odyssey” is one of the best films of the year. It runs for less than three hours, but it moves by very fast, and it wants to see the journey through. The Trojan horse trick isn’t as easy as “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” or “Troy” made it out to be, and wait until you see how Circe turns her victims into animals.