Troy is a cheesy action movie with a few good battle scenes that entirely misrepresents the most important messages of Illiad.

Rating: 4/10 (7 December 2005)

As a stand-alone movie, Troy deserves at least a few points for its battle scenes and the excellent acting. But the horrible screen writing and the treacherous interpretation of Homer's Illiad makes this movie merely a mediocre action flick that fails to capture any of the greatness of the work it has been inspired by.
Now I've read comments here from grad students and professors who liked or disliked it. People have brought up issues of historical accuracy and some rightly argued back that one cannot look for historical accuracy in an epic poem. But so far all the comments seem to have missed the one important thing about the Illiad: It's status among the people of ancient Greece.
Homer's Illiad was never meant to be an accurate historical account but was accepted in ancient Greece as an educational piece on some of the most fundamental elements of human existence. And it fulfilled the requirements for such a work by containing an immense amount of morals and messages. Greek thinkers, artists and poets often referred to the Illiad, were inspired highly by it and quoted it religiously. This was their "holy bible" in a sense that they kept coming back to it for inspiration and advice. Which is why I believe any work that claims to be "based on" the Illiad should try to capture or at least not alter its core messages.
Shortening the story, skipping scenes, wrapping things up a little are all fine and needed for a successful screenplay. But not if these alterations completely alter the messages contained within, in some cases to a completely opposite direction.
The story of a Paris who betrays his nation for his love and survives to become prince conveys a different message than the story of a Paris who wins the world's most beautiful woman because of his fondness of Aphrodite (=Beauty) and in turn brings death and destruction to not only his city but also to himself. The story of a Hector who knows his family is going to run away into safety before the fall of Troy before he goes to battle does not say as much about war as the story of a Hector who knows his son will be thrown off from the city walls onto the tip of a spear if he loses his fight.
Homer's Illiad contains a lesson in morality in every verse. And Troy misses all of that because its writers lack the vision and the courage to explore and reflect Homer's wisdom despite its contradictions with popular action-movie-audience expectations.