Troy falls by the weight of its faults

Rating: 5/10 (16 May 2004)

Labeled an adaptation of Homer's epic Iliad, Troy is the second of the 2004 summer blockbusters to hit theatres in as many weeks. Unfortunately, Troy ends up being ever the same disappointment as Van Helsing was one week earlier.
Troy is directed by Wolfgang Peterson who is no stranger to the blockbuster genre or the impact of star power within his celluloid vision. The Wolfman was behind the camera for such big screen bonanzas as The Perfect Storm with George Clooney, Air Force One with Harrison Ford and In The Line Of Fire with Clint Eastwood. A director who first took our notice in 1981 with the multi-nominated film Das Boot, Peterson has been consistent in bringing a high level of entertainment to the general masses.
So when he decided on Troy as his next venture Hollywood began lining up to secure roles in what was surely to be a summer spectacle that would whet the appetite of those gladiators and warriors that have been left salivating since 2000's Gladiator. Brad Pitt, Eric Bana (Hulk) and Orlando Bloom (Lord of the Rings) signed up before the contract ink was even dry (Brad even leaving the long limbo'd The Fountain) and lesser known character actors like Brian Cox (The 25th Hour) and Brendan Gleeson (28 Days Later) were happy to don metal skirts in the desert heat to help bring this reported $200 million epic to all those who waited for the movie instead of reading the poems.
Unfortunately, plotting the pros and cons after the film, I found more entries in the right hand column than the left. Brad Pitt's chiseled bod gets notice. The set design and location shoots seem authentic, some of the battle sequences are above average and I would be remiss if I didn't mention how good it was to see the blue eyed Peter O'Toole standing stoic among his young protégés.
But unfortunately, that is where my love affair with the film ends. I can't blame the story. A love and war epic where the Trojans are pitted against the Greeks after a young Paris (Bloom) steals Helen away from her husband Menelaus. In an effort to save face and seek revenge, Menelaus then requests the aide of his brother, the ruthless Agamemnon, who has aspirations of world dominance and uses the uncontrollable Achilles (Pitt) to assist him the conquering of nations. Combined, they sail 1,000 ships to Troy in attempts to extract Helen from her new love while writing their name in history for conquering an army that has long defended its walls.
Even typing the story in summary, I am given goose bumps with the potential of the undertaking. But for a scattering of faults throughout the elongated 160-minute running time, Troy becomes as forgettable as each of the hard to pronounce names of its characters. And that's where it is really too bad, for it is not one glaring thing that sinks this aggressive attempt, but rather, the little things that just build up or keep annoying you.
We can start with the dialogue that just doesn't fit in the era it is suggested. When Achilles rages that 'Before my time is done I will look down upon your corpse and smile', I couldn't help but think that the DVD outtakes reel will show the actors breaking up with roaring laughter when the director yelled cut'. Pitt in particular is given enough cheesy lines throughout his screen presence that I honestly felt bad for him knowing how much work he put into his physical appearance and how all I will remember at the end of the experience was that he was not the heroic orator of battle speeches as say William Wallace in Braveheart.
And when there was no dialogue, I was equally annoyed with the musical score. Wolfgang Peterson rejected the original score by Gabriel Yared and I wonder how much worse it could have been than the cross between the Islamic sounds of Black Hawk Down and the tense moments of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan that James Horner put together.
But let's face it, we see the trailers and we expect epic battles and it is here that Troy really disappointed. It is not as if the sequences were not well engaged, it is just that they have all been done before and better. The first battle sequence on the beaches of Troy between Achilles and his men and the Trojans seemed so meticulously choreographed that I expected Fred Astaire to jump in and perform a little soft shoe. The battle sequences that had been done so well in Braveheart and perfected in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, was nothing new in Troy if not for maybe a wider camera angle. Even the speeches before the battles to the troops were hollow and couldn't inspire a kindergarten class to begin colouring let alone ask thousands to lay down their lives for their country.
It has been well documented in the media how difficult this movie was to make. The war in Iraq, various weather mishaps and an injury to Mr. Pitt ballooned the budget and dragged the film on longer than anticipated. The result of these delays may be the reason why the elements don't work as a whole. Some of Pitt's scenes seem rushed and Brian Cox overacts and he looks annoyed as if maybe he was doing a scene months after he had said good-bye to his character.
I expect Troy to be a success with the general public. There are enough male heartthrobs to keep the women lined up and enough expected violence to keep the men holding their hands. It's just too bad they couldn't adapt what was such an interesting story into something that David Lean would rise from his grave to but a ticket for. It is now the second week of the summer blockbusters, and I hope that Shrek 2 is the Trojan horse.
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