already underated

Rating: 9/10 (28 May 2004)

I think that most people going to see Troy were looking for something a little more akin to Ridley Scott's gritty Gladiator film. But that is not the case with Troy, it is gritty yes, but in a different way. The film takes place on a huge scale and is full of epic battle sequences and one on one combat scenes, all very intense. A lot of people have criticized director Wolfgang Petersen's heavy use of CGI but I doubt it would have been possible to get 50,000 extras who know how to stage fight with 3,000 year old weapons.
The performances in Troy rely heavily on the actor's abilities to seem serious through the admittedly weak dialogue and because of this film's pedigree the performances succeed in being just what they need to be at any given time. Brad Pitt looks and acts like what i imagine Achilles would have looked and acted like. Brian Cox, the new European villain du jour has a great time as Agamemnon. Eric Bana stands out as the reluctant Trojan champion Prinec Hector and Peter O'Toole and Sean Bean are solid as usual.
My only complaint about the film are the characters of Paris and Helen. Both seem selfish and weak and it is maddening to watch Orlando Bloom perform his final scene. Otherwise, a great underated film.