WORTH WATCHING?

Rating: Null/10 (26 May 2004)

I watched Troy today after a long-awaited anticipation to see it; not because I thought I would love itbut because I wanted to see how much I could hate it. As far as I can remember, the first thing that caught my attention was the music- something that was consistently good throughout the movie. The second thing was Sean Bean's familiar voice.

Overall, I thought this movie lacked consistency in story and in acting. Apart from Peter O'Toole, Eric Bana and Sean Bean, everybody else could have done with a few lessons on acting better. I was shocked to see Orlando, poor Orlando having to play such a pathetic part in the movie. It's sad to see though the guy may have acting talent, he never really gets a chance to show it. But I must admit that I was expecting better emotion from him when Hector was killed.
The movie sort of dragged in the beginning. Things were stupid. The cinematography, special effects, music, Sean, Eric and Peter O'Toole made me stay where I was. I really hated Achilles and sorry to state thisI thought a much better actor could have played that part. Brad Pitt didn't seem interested and committed to what he was doing in the movie. He had this carefree attitude which seemed less Achilles type and more of a genuine feel from himself.
The story lacked punch and interest. The only emotional parts started after Patroclus was killed. Obviously after that there was the death of Hector etc. I can say that part made me cry. The filmmakers were very ambitious for this project, but sorry to say, they didn't achieve what they could have. Petersen could definitely have omitted a few scenes.
Another thing was the inconsistent dialogue. At a few points you're faced with well constructed poetry and in other parts there was anachronistic dialogue! Some lines seemed to have been taken directly from the LOTR trilogy. Even some scenes reminded me of LOTR! For instance when Hector and Paris walk out of Troy for Paris to fight Menelaus, I was reminded of Aragorn and his troops coming out of Minas Tirith to go to the Black Gate. At some points, Troy looked like Minas Tirith (though it isn't white).

The first two hours of the movie was a sort of emotionless and disgusting, but it became better when Hector was killed. I cried. It was so heartbreaking when he was dragged after death and taken to the Greeks. Achilles seemed to have no heart. If King Priam hadn't come to him that night and begged for his son's body, maybe Achilles would have let Hector lie on the sand like that. I began to hate Achilles and therefore didn't cry when he died. But that was also because Brad Pitt didn't seem as though he was dying (more like he was thinking `When does this movie end?').

The music was a plus point throughout. I think we could have done without Briseis (if that's the right spelling) and many other parts. Peter O'Toole proves to us again what a fine actor he is, Sean Bean shows his talent again after Boromir, and Eric Bana was brilliant in this movie where I first saw him act.
Overall, I give this movie 5/10. It surely could have been a lot better (and it gets the high rating primarily because of the three acting talents I have mentioned above). P.S. How do people think that Brad Pitt looks cute as Achilles (yuck!)?