I'll probably wake up in a gutter tomorrow after sharing this opinion, but this is not a good movie.
If I consider the time when it was filmed - yes, I can see how groundbreaking it was visually. It still looks amazing (at least in 4K), and holds up extremely well, since all affects were practical ones, and of high quality, and they meshed with "real life" seamlessly. At the time it was an extraordinary feat, for sure.
It also a unique atmosphere. Those "silent" moments, long panning - they do make it feel more "real". Amount of details also adds to that. And I am not talking about clutter (although that, too, to an extent), but rather amount of actions that are taken by characters when they are doing something. It is, indeed, realistic, and at the time it would also be considered a huge spectacle because of that.
But while these things certainly mean a good art piece in general, I am not sure if they mean "a good movie". At least, to me a "good movie" implies a good story as well. This is more like a set of concepts with a lot of padding, that does not really deliver anything. That may be fine sometimes (I think "Room 104" had a few episodes like that, and possibly "Black Mirror", too, and those episodes worked fine as standalones). But I felt like this movie was trying to be more.
The way it is structured suggests that it is trying to tell a story, first showing the "background of the world" (kind of), then zooming to a small piece of that world, and then zooming out again. It implies something of large scale being affected (or at least being carried out) by something small and seemingly insignificant. Conceptually it sounds fine. "Lord of the Rings" is kind of similar in a way. Or "Dune". And both of those are found boring by some people.
But LOTR and Dune are "boring" because they tell too much information about the world (world-building), while Odyssey tells you... How people are watching news. Or piloting a shuttle or whatever. Which, to be fair, can be interesting for some, but it does not progress a story or bring any extra understanding or appreciation of the world of the story.
And no, this is not because the movie is philosophical or anything. It tries to be, yes, but can't say it succeeds, but that's debatable, of course. I think main problem is that it focuses too much on mundane actions in a fantastical setting, that it loses its focus. It's like you are watching a reality-show like "Big Brother" or something, but instead of interesting interactions between the players you see how people are just reading books, listening to music or maybe assemble some furniture. Those are meaningful for the players, but not for you, the viewer.
So, yeah, I get why it is an important piece of art. But as a movie I'd say its too niche than media wants you to believe, because it's not as entertaining as it could be.
