Clean fun with flaws

Rating: 7/10 (3 June 2004)

Ok, this story had to be adapted. It was far too epic and super-sized to remain in Homer's pages. To do it, of course they would have to get all the best money can buy, and the results when you see it are as expected: massive sequences, massive sets, amazing sights, amazing visions. But "Troy" falls a bit flat specially because of the way the source material had to be juggled in order to adapt itself for a two-and-a-half-hour movie. So, apparently, the gods are dropped in favor of a much more militaristic, "gladiatoresque" approach - in the original tale, men fought alongside the gods, which were pivotal to the battle events. Here, men fight for honor, for their homelands, for greed, for courage, for love, but are never aided by some sort of divinity. This makes "Troy" little more than an extended battle scene, divided into several set pieces, some amazing (the fight between Aquilles and Hector is an eye-opener), some a already-seen (those rings movies already defined and claimed the massive battle shots we witness here). Of course, as an epic of gigantic proportions it certainly achieves - the shot of a thousand ships sailing to troy is unforgettable. But even if Brad Pitt transpires charisma, and Eric Bana provides a much-needed nobility, this enterprise sounds like little more than Hollywood dollars to the service of popcorn entertainment. Not deep, only fun.