Great character driven plot with A- action.

Rating: 8/10 (2 February 2015)

Though Troy does not follow the Greek legend it is modeled after, it is, in my eyes, the epitome of war movies. It shows every side of what is happening and allows the viewer to feel for the characters and choose who to root for. There is no true "good guy" or "bad guy", which I think lots of movies would do well to emulate. That said, it is not a perfect movie, but has much more good points than bad points.
Going into it, I thought it would be action driven and have relatively bland characters, but it is incredibly character driven. Achillies, though advertised as the main character, is really one of many main characters and takes the backseat at several points. He has legitimate flaws, mostly driven by his pride and desire for glory, but is still someone you can sympathize with and root for. Hector, my favorite character, is motivated by love of his family and country, and he acts as the voice of reason at several points. Paris, though he initiates the war, generates a reasonable amount of sympathy and is not portrayed as a villain or a total wimp. Helen, like Paris, is not portrayed in a negative light, though her character could have been written a little better. Agammemnon is the only person that I think is incapable of connecting emotionally with the audience since he is only driven by his greed and is the true instigator of the war. Menalaus has relatively little depth, mostly because he (SPOILER) is killed by Hector prematurely. Briseus is the strong female presence of the film and enhances Achillies character by bringing out his humanity. Priam is another semi-prominent character and contributes to the arcs of Hector, Achilles, Paris, and Helen. Lastly, Odysseus is the constant voice of reason and contributes wisdom throughout. There are some other minor characters such as Achilles second, Eudorus, his cousin Patroclus, Nestor, and Andromache.
The movie is, of course, about a war, making action a prominent element. It should satisfy anyone seeking a good action flick, though it gets pretty intense at a few points. There is some gore, but nothing over the top as in the Passion or the 2010 Clash of the Titans. The choreography is great and you can tell that Achilles, Hector, and the Myromidians are incredible warriors even though they don't move with lightning speed like elves or ninjas. It flows nicely and doesn't have any insanely long battle sequences. The three main types of action are one-on-one combat, raids and sacking's as in the climatic battle, and full on army against army brawls.
The execution has some dents in it, but nothing that detracts too much. The script could have been better, but there are lots of good maxims and proverbs from various characters. The visual quality is very good, though not award-winning. James Horner's film score has a good amount of orchestral themes and female opera singing that are commonplace for his scores and many scores in pre-renaissance settings. The acting is satisfactory and even superior in some cases, as it should be considering the All-Star cast. The camera work and cinematography were both sufficient, but not spectacular.
The main thing that might deter prospective viewers is the deviations from the original story. The gods are not included, though they are mentioned a fair amount. This generates some interesting points such as Achilles feeling that gods like the ones the other characters worship are not deserving of his servitude, along with the various leaders he interacts with. The duel between Paris and Menelaus is not taken from the myth and can be a detracting point. It adds depth to Paris, Agammemnon, Helen, and Hector, but the resulting death of Menelaus gets rid of a character who had potential to add to the overall plot. Also, it kind of wrecks the chance of making a spin-off with the Odessey since Menelaus is relatively important to that story. Perhaps Troy is best as an individual film, but I wouldn't mind seeing an Odessey sequel since it would be good to see Sean Bean as the protagonist for once, and because the story deserves better than the 90's movie with Aramand Assante.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes action, good characters, or a pretty good and deep story. If you are a fan of any prominent actors, it might be worth seeing. Personally, I feel that it is Top 250 worthy, but obviously others feel differently. If you watch it, you have to be willing and able to pay attention throughout. Also, it's good to have a general idea of the legend before viewing. Overall Rating: 8.7/10.