Better than what I expected

Rating: 7/10 (7 June 2004)

I finally went around to seeing this movie essentially because I was told it had an awesome rendition of the duel between Achilles and Hector, and I wanted to catch it on the big screen. Aside from that, I approached the movie with the expectation that the script was terrible, the acting equally flat, and the Iliad completely butchered. I guess with expectations that low, I must say, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the movie, unlike many of the IMDb critics who seemed to go in with very high expectations.
The one criticism that I must agree with is that the love between Helen and Paris just didn't seem very convincing. Bloom and Kruger had no chemistry whatsoever. But as it turns out, the direction of this movie didn't seem to focus much on Helen and Paris but more on the juxtaposition between Achilles and Hector. Indeed, the script dismisses Helen as simply an excuse to wage a war that Agamemnon was itching to fight. Given that approach, I could forgive the lack of focus on their relationship.
If you sift out all the battle scenes and cheesy lines (which you have to expect from a Hollywoodical epic and what most people pay to see anyway) this movie really comes down to comparing two heroes who have two different definitions of glory. In this regard, I thought the movie was excellent. While I think Bana was a terrible Bruce Banner, he was brilliant as the dutiful, honorable, and courageous Hector that Homer envisioned in his story. In the Iliad, Hector represents the ideal leader and is also a symbol of marital piety, both of which were well adapted in the script. On the other hand, while I think Pitt is generally a good actor, I think he was mis-directed. Pitt certainly did an excellent job of bringing out the arrogance and thirst for glory that represents the petulant Achilles, but did they have to cast him as a clean-shaven pretty boy the entire movie? It just seemed to take away from his credibility as an actor.
Perhaps this movie shouldn't have been called Troy, but instead Achilles, since the movie is really more about him than about the siege of Troy. For example, they completely took out the Judgment of Paris and the character Cassandra. Instead, the movie begins and ends with Achilles; his flaws exacerbated by the virtues of Hector.
While it certainly doesn't come close to any of the greats, overall it was a good film. Peter O'Toole was of course Peter O'Toole and Sean Bean did a fine job as well. I guess the key is to go in with low expectations and you may actually be quite entertained. By the way, the fight scene between Hector and Achilles really was great. Catch it on the big screen if you can!