Truely dissapointing

Rating: Null/10 (24 May 2004)

This movie didn't sit right with me at all. The screenplay was abysmal and the casting was strange. Garrett Hedlund as Patroclus was the best example of this. His role was one of a younger, less experienced cousin to Achilles. I don't mind the inconsistencies with the Illiad. I was bothered by the fact that he was obviously old enough to take care of himself, probably in his early 20s.
**SPOILER**
There's a scene in the movie where he disguises himself like Achilles and leads the Greeks into battle only to die at the hands of Hector. Hector realizes this is not Achilles and so in turn decides to call the battle off. A few shrugged shoulders and everyone walks away. Now if Patroclus was say a lanky 14 year old boy that would have made at least some sense, but they were in the middle of a fierce battle (that the Trojans were winning) and it seems unbelievable that Hector could even command his thousands of troops to stop fighting and walk home at that point. In the book, Achilles sends Patroclus out to fight in his stead, but told him not to chase if the Trojans retreated. The Trojans did end up retreating and Patroclus pursued them. Apollo struck down Patroclus, knocking his helmet and armor off. Hector laid the final blow and dragged Patroclus' body around after cutting off his arms (this is why Achilles did the same with Hector's body).
Another thing that really bothered me was how one-sided the movie was. The Trojans were depicted as the innocent defenders of a grand city and the Greeks were depicted as blood thirsty brutes who were trying to take over the world.
The dialog was weak at best. I count that up to writing, directing and casting. Orlando Bloom came off way too stiff, but it seemed like everyone was stiff. If I find myself criticizing a movie during the movie there's something seriously wrong and about 20 minutes into this I kept thinking, `what the hell was Wolfgang thinking?' I think they figured they didn't have to write a good screenplay, since they were adapting one of the greatest stories ever told. So they threw out the influence of the Gods (which would have been pretty spectacular with today's CG); they threw out the drama; they threw out the feeling of the book and were left with the shell of a movie that they never really filled.