I thought it an excellent film. The film is simply one artist's interpretation of an epic poem that was only committed to writing hundreds of years after the countless additions to the original oral tradition of the story came into being. Remember, both the Iliad and the Odyssey grew from an oral tradition, because the post Mycenaean society that arose after the collapse of the Bronze Age was only on the verge of literacy. Also, whether or not the actors spoke in English, Swahili, or whatever other language one could possibly think of, Nolan attempted to make a film that would bring this timeless story to our own age and times. Whether or not rappers, or trans people or any other kind of so-called 'woke' interpretation are involved is again immaterial, because it is the universal story that really counts, endlessly open to many rich interpretations of the original source material. Finally, who cares if Helen of Troy was played by a black woman or not (her role was actually quite small in the overall scheme of the film). After all, these are all mythological characters. To my mind, Nolan perfectly captured the essence of this work, one of two foundational literary works of Western Civilization. Interesting footnote: since both the Illiad and The Odyssey arose within a purely oral tradition, most likely the bards, such as Homer (whose name mysteriously means 'the hostage'), sang the material, perhaps accompanied by stringed instruments, in order to engage their enraptured audiences who could neither read nor write, and wanted to hear about the glorious deeds of their Mycenaean ancestors. Check out Michael Wood's amazing 1985 documentary series, In Search of the Trojan War, particularly episode 3, 'The Singer of Tales," which gives one the flavor of what an oral performance might have been like during the post-Bronze Age period.
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