Three months after Elon Musk said Grok would release a complete, “historically accurate” cinematic version of “The Odyssey,” Grok has released a full seven minutes — what the company is now calling “Episode 1 of our Odyssey series.”
Musk previously criticized Christopher Nolan’s version of “The Odyssey” because Nolan cast non-white and transgender actors. And Nolan is, in many ways, a perfect foil for Musk — while the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla promotes data centers in space and releases a never-ending stream of AI-generated content, Nolan has described himself as “a techno-skeptic” and said that before AI, he had never seen technology “so completely rejected by the public.”
And while Nolan’s version of “The Odyssey” certainly used plenty of visual effects, it is above all a feat of practical filmmaking, with filming in six countries and a cast and crew numbering several thousand. After its release in July, the film became an extraordinary box office success, selling out Imax screenings for months and likely becoming the favorite for the next Oscars.
As for Grok’s version of “The Odyssey” (created in collaboration with Wonder Studios and director Dev Walker), well, you can watch for yourself.
I admit, it’s not as ugly as I expected, and certainly more impressive than other videos Musk has posted recently. If I didn’t know better, there were moments where I might have thought these were real actors sailing on a real sea. And while I can’t speak to Grok’s historical accuracy, it appears that all the characters have a Musk-approved skin color, while the narrator uses a British accent that will sound familiar to anyone who has played a fantasy video game or watched a generic Hollywood epic from the last 25 years.
What the images really lack is any sense of artistry, inspiration, or human interest. The backstory – delivered via the aforementioned voiceover – seems to go on forever, eventually giving way to one bearded face after another, each shouting stilted lines that make Nolan’s dialogue sound like Shakespeare’s.
While a few individual shots may provide a reasonable simulacrum of reality, the whole thing feels completely airless, offering viewers no sense of momentum, no reason to care about anyone or anything on screen. And where I had no trouble paying attention for nearly three hours of Nolan’s “Odyssey,” I was relentlessly checking how much I had left before the Grok version was even halfway through.
It’s hard to imagine being interested in an extra seven minutes, let alone a full movie’s worth.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This does not affect our editorial independence.
Gn entert
