Brad Pitts Abs Anyone?

Rating: 7/10 (15 May 2004)

Troy, 2004's biggest blockbuster (well, so far, anyway) is a swords and sandals epic based on Homer's The Illiad. The Greek hero Achilles (Brad Pitt) is centre stage in story of the Trojan War, one of the largest ever fought.
Paris (Orlando Bloom), the second son of Priam (Peter O'Toole), King of Troy, has a certain way with the ladies (due to a previous encounter with Aphrodite), and falls in love with Helen, the wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta, a Greek city-state. After stealing his newfound love back to Troy, the Greek armies all rally under King Agamemnon (Brian Cox), who has been looking for an excuse to sack Troy for some time. Achilles, who is the greatest fighter in the Greek empire, grudgingly follows Agamemnon, to fight for the Greek people, and to ensure his name lives on throughout the Ages.
The film runs for just over 160 minutes, and it's a good thing it does; It
took somewhere between 40 minutes and an hour to get over the cheesy acting and close-ups that are thrown at us. From the opening dialogue (which seems to be a continuation of Maximus' "echoes through eternity" speech from Gladiator), we are given our first hint that this is no character driven drama - it's a swords and sandals Blockbuster! When a character is upset, we will be advised as much courtesy of an extreme close-up involving a hammed-up grimace, so don't worry, you can leave your brain at the door.
Of course, this is not entirely a bad thing. The ladies will certainly have something to keep them entertained - Brad Pitt has been working out even more than usual, and even Legolas' wiry frame has been beefed up to us with a lovely six pack. The action is very well choreographed, and any computer-generated imagery is handled brilliantly, blending in with the action seamlessly. The plot doesn't lag for more than a second, and did I mention. the swords and sandals?
I was pleasantly surprised by the darkness of the film as well. We see that the war could have been prevented on many occasions, but for greed and pride, and our hero's flaws are made public knowledge. Achilles' himself is an egotistical hothead, who seems to almost enjoy exercising his power to kill people that cross him, while Paris is a cloudy headed romantic fool. Eric Bana turns in a great performance as the films good guy, Prince Hector, hero of the Trojan Army, and it was great to see fellow Aussie Rose Byrne (as always) playing Briseis (though I can't say I remember her from the adaptations I read as a child?), who holds her own in (and out of) the sack with Brad Pitt.
It was great to see all the Greek heroes on screen, including my old favorite Odysseus (Sean Bean), and though war didn't seem to last the 10 years it should have (it was more like a few weeks at most), this film makes for quite an enjoyable experience.
7/10