Orlando Bloom got to me!

Rating: Null/10 (24 May 2004)

No one seems to like Orlando Bloom in the role of Paris beyond his alluring looks. I think if the reason for his love of Helen were explained, he would have had more to work with and developed the part more. Maybe a mention or two of the goddess that gave him three choices would have been a start. Oddly, the fact that in general the fight scenes were shot too close up and therefore were a little less frightening worked in Orlando's favor in comparison to the more direct way his battle with Helen's husband was shot. I think he conveyed his fear and the way the battle and his opponent were presented made the audience understand certainly by the time he crawled toward the camera. Perhaps some would distain his fear and crawling toward his brother, the heroic Hector. But, I really felt for Paris. It is bothering me two days later like no other scene! It's the script's fault that no Trojan reaction to his turning tail was shown. When he joined them behind the doorway toward the end, the Trojan soldiers seemed to be indifferent to him. Why didn't they express their distain, if any, for his cowardice? Then, later, they could have expressed admiration for his ability with bow and arrow. At the end, his shooting the arrows into Achilles, who had killed his brother, would have had more redemptive power.