Good epic movie but NOT the best epic ever...

Rating: 7/10 (15 May 2004)

Like most people, I've read The Iliad, The Odyssey, and various other mini-plays about the Trojan War. For the most part, I enjoyed these great Greek dramas. So, when I heard that Troy was coming out, I was both anxious to see it and worried that Hollywood would mess it up. Fortunately, Troy succeeds on most levels...not all, but most.
***POSSIBLE SPOILERS***
As far as acting goes, there are a few great performances. Brian Cox is absolutely sinister as Agamemnon and I was genuinely glad to see him die (although it's completely different here than in the traditional Greek stories). Sean Bean (Boromir in Lord of the Rings)was very convincing as the great tactician Odysseus, who has the consummate politician's charisma and leadership skills.
However, Eric Bana as Hector and Peter O'Toole as Priam steal the show. Bana makes Hector the most sympathetic character in Troy as he is fighting for his family despite the fact that he disagrees with what Paris and Helen have done. O'Toole as Priam perfectly pulls off the long-time leader who is seeing his city burn around him. I wouldn't be surprised if Bana and O'Toole both got nods for Academy Awards.
The rest of the performances were only OK or terrible. Brad Pitt as Achilles and Rose Byrne as Briseis were good but nothing special. Orlando Bloom is OK as Paris (an average performance from Bloom is a big deal following his terrible acting in Pirates of the Caribbean). Diane Kruger as Helen, Garrett Hedlund as Patroclus, and Saffron Burrows as Andromache were pretty annoying. Brendan Gleeson was under-used as Menelaus.
The fight scenes were good (Hector's death, Achilles' death, and Patroclus' death were all great). However, there were some deaths that bothered me. I don't remember Menelaus dying in the Iliad which happens early on in the film. Priam's death was way too sudden. Agamemnon's death was necessary but I like the classic telling of his death more (where his wife kills him upon his return). The death that bothered me the most was Ajax's death. Not because it wasn't cool but because the mini-play, "Ajax", is one of my favorites (in it, Ajax goes crazy and kills himself).
Overall, I think Troy should be considered a success. The fight scenes, death scenes, and acting are all generally good. The setting is great and it definitely has the "epic" feel to it. A good epic but certainly not the epic film to end all epic films.
8/10 (due to performances by Bana, Bean, O'Toole, and Cox)