A Disappointment of Epic Proportions

Rating: 6/10 (2 June 2004)

Every year it happens. The first epic of the summer. It has effects, it has big names, it has the big advertisements, it has ... no writing!
First I may have to apologize for actually knowing the story of the Iliad. Quite frankly, after seeing the movie, I'm surprised they give Homer any writing credit at all. He certainly wouldn't want that credit.
The actors did what they were supposed to. Brad Pitt captivated the audience, Eric Bana supported him well and was a good complement, and Orlando Bloom played an excellent pretty boy.
Beyond that, the movie clearly got too big for its own good. The Trojan War lasted 10 years, not three weeks. In its effort to convey the heart of the war, Troy somehow felt too thin. There really weren't any epic battles. There were a few good duels, but that doesn't make a movie. The characters weren't especially well developed. Achilles, the most developed character in the movie could not have been further from the true myth of Achilles, who truly was a large, dumb brute with very homosexual tendencies. Of course, Brad Pitt would not want to play such a character, so they changed it. And, any movie set in Ancient Greek Mythology that completely ignores any presences of the gods feels like you only got half the story.
In conclusion, the movie felt like a lightweight version of Gladiator, minus the acting, the writing, and the story.