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Troy - 5/14/04 - R - 163m
Brad Pitt - Achilles
Brian Cox - Agamemnon
Eric Bana - Hector
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Written by: Homer
Screenplay: David Benioff
Studio: Warner Bros.
Official
Website
LYN
Nutshell… A 21st Century Hollywood version of Homer’s ‘The Iliad’. What’s that? Not familiar with ‘The Iliad’? No matter…here’s the short of it. Preface; Paris (Trojan dude, not the city in France) steals the wife of Menelaus (King of Sparta), and scoots back to Troy with said woman (Helen). Menelaus not liking this two much beseeches the help of his brother Agamemnon to get her back one way or another by of course waging war against the Trojans. The ‘Iliad’ basically begins with the battle already engaged and an internal quarrel brewing between Agamemnon and Achilles (of ‘Achilles Heel’ fame 
), then continues from that point on. Confused? Don’t be…Hollywood will simplify and change things to make everything easier to understand.
Okay first things first and what pretty much sets the tone for the rest of this review is a little bit of trivia I picked up from “Imdb.com”, and I quote “Wolfgang Petersen (Director) dropped the various Greek Gods from the storyline (Zeus, etc) claiming them to be "silly" and unnecessary to the plot.” Silly? Oh…okay? You see the ‘Iliad’ was in essence a story of passions and of a battle between the humans and also a battle between the Gods. On the human side you had the Greeks vs. the Trojans, pretty simple, but the interesting part was that the Gods chose sides too. But, the director finds them silly, even though Aphrodite (daughter of Zeus) intervenes to save Paris from defeat by the hands of Menelaus. Not necessarily the way it happens in the film, but apparently some things are just guidelines and more than rules (See “Van Helsing” review for explanation) when it comes to telling a story. So basically just tell the tale anyway you want and try to sell tickets from there.
I mean not that the film didn’t following the basic story, it just didn’t tell it well. I got the impression from the film that the war was only a few days rather than the ten years it supposedly took. The battle scenes were choppy and uninteresting, and not to mention somewhat confusing. In one battle scene in where two of the main combatants were fully engaged, one slays the other, and then all of sudden it’s like a “Let’s call it a day…” kind of moment, and it’s quittin’ time, “So everyone go back to their respective corners and see you tomorrow. Buh-Bye.” Huh? What just happened?
Anyway, enough of this, I’m seriously tiring of writing about this film as I’m sure you are of reading about it, so…overall the acting was adequate and uninteresting. There were a few good scenes, and I’m not talking about seeing ‘Brad Pitt’s’ butt, cause that happens one too many times for my taste. I’m sorry the whole movie just left me feeling flat and wanting something else, like perhaps a better movie? All and all, just another 2 hours and 50 minutes of my life that could have been better spent.
On a very serious note:
‘George Camilleri’ broke his leg during the filming of an action sequence for the movie on May 30th in 2003. He was operated on the next day, but sadly died 17 days later from complications. Once again we are reminded that there are people that do pay the ultimate price for their art… A moment of silence would be nice, and I’d like to say Thank you George, and God’s speed.
Lyn
