Review of Troy (2004) by Christinem. — 25 Jun 2007

I don't normally do reviews like this but I figured I would do one for this movie. I think a big problem a lot of people had with this movie was that it wasn't strict Iliad. This is true, but you have to remember, this is a movie and it is impossible to drag what was recorded as a ten year war, I believe, out on screen.

You have to condense it. In that fact, I think this was done rather well in Troy. The battle scenes were done well even if they were computerized. Many movies do that nowadays because after all you can't higher 50,000 extras.

As for the casting: Brian Cox and Brendan Gleeson did amazing jobs as the protagonists in this movie. Peter O'Toole was a delight to see and especially moving in the scene with Pitt. Sean Bean filled the role of Odysseus to a T, though I would have liked to of seen his character more often.

Orlando Bloom did a fair job of playing Paris, after in my mind I felt they were not trying to get you to sympathize with Paris for bringing about the destruction of his own family and city. I have to say that the casting of Helen with Diane Kruger was poor.

She just did not fill the role of "The Face that launched a 1000 ships." I felt her acting was a bit flat. Eric Bana was by far one of the best things about this movie. He grounded the character of Hector and you see the conflict he has with his loyalty to Troy and to his family.

Bana pulled this off with class. Brad Pitt was, in my opinion, at his best since Legends of the Fall. Give the guy some slack, he has to play this almost godlike, most of the time emotionless character.

In the scene with O'Toole he held his own quite well. Up and coming actress Rose Bryne did an amazing job with the role she had. Her character was actually a combination of a few of the women in the Iliad.

Again she manages to hold her own in scenes with the likes of Brad Pitt and Brian Cox. A tough task for a newbie. Garrent Hedlund and Vincent Regan both did well with the roles of Patrocleus and Eudorus.

Though I felt Hedlund's performance came off as a bit whiny. The flow of the story does drag in places but I think that happens in alot of movies. I do recommend this movie but not for strict Homer fans.

What I loved most about this movie is that it highlights flaws in the human condition and almost warns the audience that everything action we take can lead to our own downfall.