Leave the 'Iliad' at home, you'll be sorry if you miss this!

Rating: 9/10 (20 May 2004)

If you go to see this movie as a classicist, expecting a faithful retelling of the "Iliad", you'll be disappointed, possibly frustrated just as those who expected a by-the-book version of "The Fellowship of the Rings" were. But-- if you go to see a MOVIE, you'll love it because it's a GREAT one. By now you probably know the approach is historical rather than mythological, a vision of the events that created the legends. Is it better than "Gladiator"? Yes, it's superior. It's an epic with an ensemble cast so a great deal of "character development" isn't to be expected. The sets and costumes are wonderful except where obvious CGI shows up. The cast is excellent, too, even though I winced at some of the dialogue they were handed. How did really out of place lines like "We may never be here again" and "Make your brother proud" get in there? (SPOILER, SORT OF, FOLLOWS) Shook my head, too, when at the death of Patroclus, Hector and Odysseus give each other the "Yeah, let's call it a day" thing and they all just take their spears and dead comrades and go home without so much as a shoving match. Also, Diane Kruger is beautiful without a doubt but not awe inspiring beautiful, something didn't translate to cinema. Some of the "veteran actors" chewed that delicious scenery a bit, but Pitt, Bana, Bloom, Bean, Burrows and Byrne (that's a lot of 'B's) carried their roles off as they were meant to be. If Paris and Helen came off as spoiled even sulky teenagers at times, it's because that's how they were intended. Brad Pitt did a great job with a complicated Achilles and Eric Bana as the reluctant Hector was near perfect. Brieses as a Hippolyta-hybrid was necessary and worked, too. ('NOTHER SPOILER) I just wish that Paris hadn't apparently gotten away with Helen, and instead of Brieses stabbing Agamemnon, a line had run at the end that read something like "Agamemnon got his victory then 'got his' from his wife as soon as he crossed the threshold." About the eye candy... I love Eric Bana and like Orlando Bloom a good bit, but I don't think you could put any two men on the planet next to a buffed up and bronzed Brad Pitt and have them look good. He portrayed Achilles far better than I thought he could, but he looked like Adonis. This is a far, far better movie than the reviews led me to expect and you want to see it on the big screen.