A definite good time.

Rating: Null/10 (28 October 2004)

A well hyped film may sometimes find it hard to match up to the expectations set by the press. "Troy" does relatively well in this area, though the battle scenes are an excellent eyefull for the gore lovers, and quite watchable and interesting for those who aren't, they do come off, particularly the storming of the beach of Troy, as a little try hard, attempting, and failing, to be as glorious as the battles of The Lord of the Rings. Also, some of the dialogue and acting leaves something to be desired. Peter O'Toole brings quite a back ground character effect to King Priam, and fumbles several lines, whilst Rose Byrne fumbles even more and leads viewers to the belief that they could have done a better job, all they need is to turn on the water works at the appropriate time. Brad Pitt is an excellent Achilles, but if film makers wished us to like his character they did a sad job of it, and the Achilles we see does some unredeemable things. Eric Bana truly is something brilliant as the heroic prince Hector, and there isn't much to say in the way of fault to his performance, an incredible embodiment of both power and responsibility being held together. Orlando Bloom has been continuously attacked for his acting skills, but is every inch the young Paris, and any misgivings about him are lost as the end of the film arises. Meanwhile Brian Cox gives another interesting performance as a bad guy, and assures a few laughs as he goes, and imprints the line "I like your land!" in most viewers brains. Diane Kruger makes a favourable appearance as the beautiful Helen, once Queen of Sparta, now Princess of Troy. But there is only one truly flawless actor to show himself on the big screen through out nearly 3 hours of film, and that is the mighty Sean Bean, as Odyseuss. Nothing but praise can be given to his presence, and he holds the movie high. While battles are all well and good, special effects are fine, and storyline is quite simple, it really is a character film, and this leads to most of my comment being on the actors and actresses, good or bad. Altogether a definite good time, and a memorable watch. 7/10.