A lesser epic (in comparison to the source material), but still entertaining

Rating: 6/10 (10 May 2008)

If you had a cellophane schematic of the Iliad with all the important details and events in the plot as dots and placed it over Troy, most of the dots would be in the right place.
While the premise, characters and events are the same and essentially faithful to Homer's epic poem, still some major elements of the story were decidedly dropped for the sake of youth audiences and to grow into them an interest in literature and history.
Where is the mythology? Where are the gods? Instead of including such important characters and settings, the producers decided to go for a more realistic (though not historically accurate) depiction of the Trojan War. This included a notorious change in Achilles. While in the poem and in popular knowledge, Achilles was invulnerable, thus making him the grand warrior that he is, the movie sees him only as some agile, tough to kill guy. It's no longer "Achilles, the invulnerable", but more "Achilles, the arrow dodger". This makes Paris' strike to Achilles' ankle more stupid, as the strike just take's him by surprise and that's pretty much it.
However, in keeping the action and events realistic, the portrayal of the Trojan horse was more believable, since an entire army could not fit inside one wooden horse, as it was more likely that just a few Greeks could hide inside the horse and later open the doors to Troy once they were let in.
Besides from that, the performances are rather good. With the ensemble cast, it is expectable that the actors would work good. And they do. Eric Bana and Brad Pitt both bring dramatic deepness into their titular characters. Orlando Bloom goes a little inconspicuous here. Diane Kruger was average, though I thought there are far more beautiful women today that could play Helen of Troy (said to be the most beautiful woman that has ever lived). It's not that Diane Kruger is not pretty. She just wasn't the right choice for Helen of Troy. Of course, Peter O'Toole is the best in the movie. His portrayal of the good hearted but dumb and easily persuaded king Priam was superb. And Brian Cox, who I would normally expect for him to be extremely good falls a little flat as Agamemnon.
The visual effects are very good. The action and battle sequences are far better than other films of the same setting, and the CGI armies, as clichéd as they are, work fine at inspiring awe in the viewer (at least with myself, the sometimes easily impressed).
I can't say the same with the score. As far as I've tried to do James Horner some justice and hand it to him, Troy could possibly be his worst job in film music. Although, you can't really blame Horner for this one. He had just weeks to write a full score (although this didn't seem to be a drawback when he did Aliens). Why does the score suck? Half of the score is moaning and wailing, a trademark of epic Mediterranean films since Gladiator, and another half is the famed "danger theme" that makes an infamous appearance for far too many times, to the point where it gets annoying and not engaging. A small percentage is dominated with percussion, but that also grows annoying. It's sad to consider that Gabriel Yared's score was turned down from reactions to a test screening.
As it is with such commercial and generic directors as Wolfgang Petersen, this is just another action flick. Still, it is very entertaining and worth several views. It was smart to end it in tragedy, as I had originally knew the story from the Greek's point of view.
It's not the worst movie ever made. It's far better than other similar epic films, the script is more interesting and well crafted. I personally enjoyed the action sequences, as I'm a fan of watching two armies collide and fight to the death.
For all you literature lovers, you most certainly won't enjoy watching this one. Still, this is a good pick to watch with the family on a Sunday night (there is some rear nudity, but it's minor and useless so it won't leave you mentally scarred).
It does has its flaws, but it's still basically faithful to the Iliad and has an engaging dramatic ending. 6/10.