Flawed Epic

Rating: 7/10 (17 May 2004)

This almost $200 million dollar epic is loosely based on the 3000 year old classic the Iliad. The question has to be asked of those who spent the money is what planet do they live on? They had to be sitting around with the screenwriter and director talking about how to make the film. One bright spark said, `You know, that Homer guy is a bit old fashioned. His story is alright but after 3000 years it has gotten a bit stuffy. We can do it better than some old Greek guy.' Hmmmm. Not good judgment. If the story worked for 3000 years, why change it?
Anyways, things meander about in earnest but plodding fashion until we finally get to Troy (Ilium). Brian Cox chews up the scenery as a pretentious Agamemnon, the High King of the Greeks. Brad Pitt does well as the egotistical but fatalistic Achilles. The real star is Eric Bana as the tragic Hector.
For some reason, the 10 year war is condensed to a couple weeks, detracting from the epic Troy strives to be. In that time, the classic confrontation between Achilles and Hector plays out. This is the heart of the film and it works very well. The satellite characters don't work well, and at times come off very awkwardly. There are no Gods or Goddesses personified and so major characters who were heavily influenced by same are axed as well (eg. Diomedes).
Overall, Troy is flawed by a misguided attempt to rework an epic story. The central theme of the two heroes works very well, but even that is somewhat muddled by story changes. The cinematography is first rate, it has a forgettable musical score (another flaw, all classic epic films has a memorable theme), but it also has pretty cool battle and fight scenes. The violence and blood is not too graphic, but it is a bit too long for younger viewers and there is some brief gratuitous nudity. Fans of the Illiad will be disappointed, but Troy is worth seeing for those who like epics in spite of its flaws.