A Good Solid Epic

Rating: 8/10 (18 January 2005)

As the title says this is a good solid epic. This is not a great film, but still a fine film.
There are many complaints about this movie, most of which I do not understand. It was not trying to look like "Clash of the Titans" or "Hercules" the TV series. It tried to take a very stylized but "real world" approach. That meant gritty and gory violence, but a very epic and "Old School Hollywood" feel.
Now it was not as good as some of the movies of old it emulated (Ben Hur and Sparticus for examples) but it was still very good and better than this year's other swords and sandals epic, Alexander. In favor of a strong narrative, and not to turn out weak like 2003's mediocre "Helen of Troy," director Wolfgang Petersen and screenwriter David Benioff mercilessly cut through Homer's Illiad. What they came up with was a strong film.
The plot revolves around Achilles (Brad Pitt) as the greatest warrior of all time and his battle within his soul for peace. Yes, he is a glory hog who only fights for himself and his name's immortality (he even chooses a short life with fame over a long life without it), however he tries to amount to something more before his time is spent. He is also the key figure of greedy Greek King Agemmemnon's (Brian Cox) assault on the nation of Troy. This is a retaliation to Prince Paris of Troy (Orlando Bloom) stealing Sparta's Queen Helen (Diane Kruger) from the Spartan King, Menalaus (Brendan Gleeson).
What follows is an epic war of blood and loss on both sides. But the heart of the film is the characters. Though this is no character study, and none are extraordinarily deep, each character is interesting in their own regard and worth following. The most tragic being Hector (Eric Bana) who is forced to lead Troy into war because of Paris, Hector's selfish younger brother. He ends up bearing the brunt of Paris's lust when he faces off with an invincible, proud, and vengeful Achilles. Like the city of Troy, Hector bears the brunt of what Paris has done, and faces his (and Troy's) destruction in a tragic ending (which also involves a large wooden horse).
There are some drawbacks in this film. The score is not James Horner's best. Also, Brad Pitt as Achilles leaves something to be desired, yet this is a good old fashioned swords and sandals epic with a great supporting cast including Peter O'Toole as King Priam of Troy and Sean Bean as Greek King Odysseus. This movie may not be thought-provoking like Gladiator, but it is still a very entertaining, powerful, and stunning piece of cinema fluff. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes ancient world war films or a good enjoyable action/light drama movie.