Great battles but not much else

Rating: 7/10 (22 May 2004)

**Possible spoilers ahead**
I have personally not read The Illiad by Homer, so I can only judge the movie Troy based on its own merits, and quite frankly as a movie Troy has presented the viewer with magnificent battles of sword swinging and blood splattering, but has few things beyond that.
Brad Pitt plays the hero Achilles in the movie, but Pitt himself does not seem very comfortable in the role. He often appears to be forcing out the dialogue, and because of that Achilles talks in a stilted manner through much of the movie (although that is not to say that Pitt didn't try). It could be that the director intended to depict Achilles in that fashion, but in any case I would have expected him to show a little more emotion when he's not fighting someone. As for the characters of Paris (played by Orlando Bloom) and Helen (played by Diane Kruger), my main problem with their characters is that we are introduced directly with the fact that they ARE in love, but are not shown HOW and WHY they are in love. Perhaps this was due to time constraints, but if we were shown more background into their relationship, perhaps we could see why they would choose to stay together, rather than them just saying they won't leave each other.
The movie is not all bad though, and it can be quite good at times. The visuals in this movie are top notch. From the costumes of the Greeks and Trojans, to the set design of the city of Troy, the (previously mentioned) battle sequences with thousands of soldiers fighting it out, and the well choreographed one-on-one fight sequences, you can tell that the makers of the movie spent a lot of time into making Troy look good. Also, Eric Bana gives a good performance in Troy, showing quite convincingly how much he cares for his family, his brother Paris, and the fate of the Trojans.
In the end, I thought Troy was a pretty good movie, but not a great movie. The fact is though other movies have shown that you can have both great battle sequences and character depth (e.g. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Braveheart, Gladiator), and I only wish Troy could have done the same.
I give this movie a 7/10.