Needless Destroys The Story

Rating: 6/10 (16 May 2004)

I just saw Troy... and damn it, I'm confused. I want to love it; as much as I want to hate it. The more I think about it, the more I can't because it's hard to distinguish between the movie and Homer's epic it's based on. David Benioff (the screenwriter) is smart enough to put "inspired by" instead of "based on" since, clearly this is not the Iliad I love.
Things The Script Got Wrong:
1. Achilles never fought for Agamemnon before the war.
2. Hector never went to Troy.
3. It ignored the Gods and The Golden Apple.
4. The Achaeans and Trojans never wanted Peace.
5. The war takes place over ten years, not days.
6. Menelaus does not die.
7. Achilles dies BEFORE the horse.
8. Upon his homecoming, Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra, and her lover Aegisthus kill him to seek revenge for sacrificing his daughter to Artemis and to gain control of his kingdom.
9. Contrary to popular belief, the Trojan horse isn't even a notion in The Iliad (and is barely mentioned in the Odyssey. The Aenied actually gives the most in-depth story of the sack of Troy).
10. Paris dies.
11. The girl, Chryseis, Achilles falls in love and takes captive is daughter of Chryses, priest of the god Apollo. The daughter is not a priestess nor related to Priam. They mix up this story with the other tale: he fell in love with King Priam's Polyxena (Ploydora in the movie). In this tell, he wishes to marry her and goes to see Paris, who murdered him when they met; furthermore after the sack of Troy Polyxena is slaughtered on the grave of Achilles.
11. The screenplay opts to leave out the meeting between Odysseus and Priam to end the war peacefully.
12. Hector's baby cries because he sees his daddy with the shield on, not because Hector leaves!
13. Sinon is left behind by the Greeks (buried in the sand up to his head) to trick the Trojans into accepting the Horse. It's not Paris who warns of the horse, but the Trojan priest Laocoön and his two sons, whom tells Priam, "Timeo danaos et dona ferentis" ("I fear Greek, even bearing gifts").
14. The Trojan Horse was a gift to ATHENA!!!!
15. Apollo sided with the Greeks because Chryses prays for his assistance.
16. The Greeks never sack Apollo's temple.
17. Achilles meets with his mother after Agamemnon steals Chryseis away, not before he goes.
18. Hector's wife survives, but his child is thrown over the wall.
19. Helen goes back with Menelaus.
20. Paris does not give Aeneas the sword of the city; moreover they escape because Aphrodite (Venus in the Aenied) assists him.
21. Pyrrhus also called Neoptolemus, murders Priam and Priam's sons in front of Aeneas' eyes. Agamemnon does not kill Priam.
Things They Script Got Right:
1. The hatred between Achilles and Agamemnon.
2. The honor of Hector and his love for country and child.
3. The love between Achilles and Patroclus.
4. The death of: Ajax, Patroclus, Hector, (and somewhat right Achilles).
5. The scene between Achilles and Priam went Achilles agrees to give Hector back and have a twelve-day armistice.
But... the real question still looms? Is it any good?
Yes and no. The worse comparison one could make is "It's not a good a Gladiator". Well, Gladiator is a completely different movie. It's more personal and intimate, a rich character driven story with battle scenes sent in Ancient Rome. Troy is an epic, based on the Iliad, the "first and last real novel". So, for those expecting to see another Gladiator, you will be disappointed; and you have been misinformed.
It certainly is a beautiful film to watch: the sets, costumes, extras, battle scenes, cinematography, and directing is rich in the Old Hollywood epic. The final battle scene between Hector and Achilles is superb.
The acting is spectacular for what's there. Brad Pitt has received mixed to bad reviews for the leading role, however he didn't disappoint me. True, there where times he was doing some "pouty-appear to be deep thinking-eyebrow" acting, which I groaned at (because that is not the Pitt who won me over in Fight Club or suitable for the character). But, in the end, he comes through.
Additionally, as much as I want to hate Orlando Bloom, he was good as Paris. He played him right, as the weak and feeble boy surrounded by men. Brain Cox is deliciously evil (even though he overacts at points) as Agamemnon. Peter O'Toole is simply brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. But Eric Bana might possibly be the best of the bunch, playing Hector as the honorable hero, who loves his son and fatherland.
What Troy comes down to is the script. David Benioff fills it with long-winded superlatives and self-righteousness that doesn't always work. At times there's no momentum and the picture feels like it just stops. But, when it works, it works perfectly and entertains.
If you know nothing about the Iliad, go and enjoy. If you can read it in Ancient Greek, you are warned.
***/*****