Hollywoodized Epic Tale!!

Rating: Null/10 (2 December 2004)

Having been a great fan of Greek History, and Ancient History in general it was with great anticipation that I watched Troy. I was by no means disappointed and no one else should be either. This is not a historically accurate, perfectly depicted retelling of Homer's amazing historical tale of Troy and Achilles but rather an Epic, beautiful story made to impress with the highest dollar to rake in the box office dough. Sure the aspects of history are there but they were aiming to tell a story and Hollywoodize with beautiful faces, amazing battle scenes and an unlimited budget. Although I don't believe Troy cleaned up at the Box Office it has everything in place to be a blockbuster.
Having recently seen Alexander, a very historically drawn out, slow film not made to impress but rather be as accurate and controversial as possible I know these are two extremes and it seems as though movie goes are too fickle to enjoy either one. Alexander was "boring" "slow" and "too realistic" and Troy was "glorified too much" and "big name actors ruined it." There seems to be no pleasing movie goers for the Greek films.
Troy is the story of Sparta and the impending peace they are making with their long time enemy Troy. A Greek city of amazing military power, culture and knowledge. The sons of The King of Sparta, Hector and Paris are in Sparta to affirm the peace treaty. Unfortunately Paris is madly in love with, and having a passionate affair with Helen, the King of Sparta's sister in law. Paris convinces Helen to return to Troy with him envoking the wrath of her husband upon them who then turns to his brother the King to wage the largest scale war ever known to man on Troy. Sparta enlists the help of Greece's greatest hero, a man said to be immortal and son of the Gods Achilles played by Brad Pitt. Although Achillees feels no ties to the Spartan King, for the sake of glory and power he goes to Troy to help wage the battle.
Pitt as the lead character and the immortal hero Achilles does a great job of being a leading Hollywood man. He won't walk away with any Oscars for this role nor should he and it's far from his greatest performance but it's good and he does what he was meant to do for this film. He's cocky, and vain, and conceited and has the look of a man who believes he is immortal. He womanizes, falls in love, and is a bloody ruthless killer all in one swoop and pulls it off flawlessly. Pitt is a great actor but he also fills the shoes of the film maker who wants a sexy leading man. Eric Bana is perfect also as the hero of the other side Hector who leads his men with valiant, and strong character. Orlando Bloom continues his epic roles coming out of Lord Of The Rings series and Pirates of The Caribbean to play a much more modest and meek character but a handsome lover in Paris. Bloom must really be an expert bowman as he gets to flex his bow and arrow yet again in this film. Diane Kruger who was also good in National Treasure this year makes another decent performance as the especially lovely Helen in which this war is started over. Brian Cox also adds a flair as Aggamemnon the king to Sparta. He makes an excellent villain of sorts and a believable King. One of the highlights in the film that really does add the true acting flair to this film is Peter O'Tooles roles as King Priam of Troy. You can't doubt O'Tooles acting credibility who has been around for decades and certainly knows a thing or two about Historical Epics. He adds an emotional and wonderful performance to the film.
The Battle scenes and cinematography showing Troy and Ancient Greece and the scenes at the end with The Trojan Horse as brilliantly filmed by Wolfgang Peterson who has done some of my favorite action films. He knows how to make a blockbuster. The battle scenes are gory and well shot and there are plenty of them in this film something Alexander sadly lacked.
All in all I don't think this movie disappoints. It may not show historically what everyone wants and it may stray far from Homer's Illyiad in it's story and certain facts but there is nothing wrong with basing something but not following it exactly. That gives us the opportunity to be pleasantly surprised. I would only suggest that more of a focus on Helen and Paris who really were the cause of this war would have been nice. It seemed as though the greatest war known to man lost it's reasoning somewhere there. Nonetheless this will become a popular film when hitting DVD I have no doubt and for good reason. It's extremely entertaining and still manages to fall in at almost three hours. Bravo to them.
9/10