Entertaining...But Falls Short of The Illiad

Rating: 7/10 (25 July 2014)

The movie Troy is directed Wolfgang Peterson and is based on Homer's The Iliad. It was an entertaining action movie. However, I was disappointed in the fact that I felt it was a bad knockoff of The Iliad. Characters like Achilles, Hector, Paris, Odysseus, Agamemnon, Priam, and Helen are present. However, unlike The Iliad, the existence of the Greek god's is noticeably absent.
The romance between Helen and Paris that was the cause of the 10-year war at Troy is present, but not really explained. For me there is just too much missing for me to really enjoy Troy based on reading The Iliad.
What I did like about this film was Achilles, which was played by Brad Pitt and was fairly accurate. His anger at Agamemnon and his refusal to fight until Patroclus was killed by Hector were present in the film. As well as Patroclus wearing Achilles' armor into battle against the Trojans. The fight scene between Achilles and Hector was an epic and violent battle and very well done. I also enjoyed the scene between Priam (Peter O'Toole) and Achilles (Pitt) when Priam asks Achilles for the return of his son Hector's body so he can receive a proper burial.
Troy was an entertaining action movie, and I would recommend it if you do not want an accurate portrayal of Homer's The Iliad.