Average

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2004)

SPOILERS
Every few years there is one of these big Hollywood films which attempt to gain "Epic" status. Their numbers have increased over the years, but that doesn't necessarily make them all good. "Gladiator" was amazing, "Lord Of The Rings" was just as good, with "Troy" it feels like they've taken aspects of those other titles and produced a mediocre copy.
We all know the story of the Wooden Horse Of Troy, the love between Paris and Helen, etc etc. This film covers that sort of range moving from the beginning of the Trojan War through to it's climax. Ultimately though, there are one or two serious errors.
Firstly I'd like to confess that I'm not a master on Homer's story. I know the basic details of it, but I couldn't have told you who killed who or who was primarily involved. All I tend to know about the story is the motivation for war and the outcome, so I'm not even going to pretend to appreciate how accurate this film was. I've heard criticism for it's lack of mystical involvement, but all I can think of is that they went more for the historically accurate than the mythological alternative. I've heard some person doesn't kill some other person, that's more fair as a point of criticism, but at the same time, this is Hollywood and they wanted to round off things perfectly. One problem which I do have however is that they condense a long war into what seems like two weeks. This just feels wrong. Next thing you know and the Second World War will be being reduced into some sort of 2 day border scuffle.
Aside from story accuracies, the other problems with this film are how it drags towards the end (but that was necessary it feels) and Orlando Bloom. Whilst I watched this film and found myself drawn to Eric Bana's Hector, Orlando Bloom as his brother Paris was absolutely awful. I'm sure Bloom is a really nice bloke and if the guy develops a complex due to the millions of condemnations he seems to be receiving, then I feel sorry for him. In the end though it's through his own doing because he really is weak in this film. Whilst Bana was magnificant, Peter O'Toole as Priam (their father) was quality, even Brad Pitt performed well at times (but far too inconsistently). Compared with those three and a good supporting cast, Bloom just was foul. I could repeat myself over and over again in criticism of Bloom, but it would probably be deserved, he really is that bad.
On a plus note, one thing this film had always planned to deliver, and which it did well, was violence. From the offset this feature contains countless dead people, and the CGI Men have once more outdone themselves.
So basically, "Troy" is very mediocre. Whilst the special effects are impressive and certain actors are amazing, at the same time it is let down by their costars weak performances (Diane Kruger as Helen is also poor, but that feels more due to the script than her acting ability) and a plot which was doomed to cause a bit of drag towards the end. By all means go watch this film, but don't expect a masterpiece.