Not exactly Ben-Hur or Spartacus, but still enjoyable

Rating: 7/10 (4 October 2005)

No gods (with the exception of Julie Christie's cameo as Achilles'mother).Delayed or anticipated deaths.Mr "Nice Guy" Brad Pitt(with a British accent)playing brutal warrior Achilles.These are some of the reasons Troy was hated by Greek mythology purists, and I have to admit, being something of a purist myself, that the absence of the various gods annoyed me(I think Michael Douglas would have been good as Zeus,while Hugh Jackman could have been a decent Ares,god of war). As for the other things, since a few characters are more boring or rotten than in the Iliad, changing their demise time isn't that shocking.And Brad Pitt?Well, accent aside, he's actually enjoyable as the half-divine killer.The same can't be said for Diane Kruger and Orlando Bloom, whose forbidden love fuels the Trojan war in the first place.They're a handsome couple, that's true, but their acting makes the romance so insipid.But who cares?We're here to watch the bloody battles.Well, not that bloody, actually:the final duel between Achilles and Hector, which was the most graphic part of the Iliad, is reduced to five bloodless minutes.
As for the rest of the cast, the only ones who are really satisfying turn out to be two Trojans(weird, considering we're supposed to hate them),Eric Bana and Peter O'Toole,playing Hector and his father Priam, as well as one Greek, Odysseus, portrayed by Sean Bean(for once he's a good guy).
It may not be entirely faithful to the source material(the audience will prefer the Trojans), but if you ignore the flaws, you can enjoy Troy for what it is: a visually impressive, decently acted, Hollywood-style epic.