Movie Review: Troy

Stars (Out of 10): 9

One Word Summary: Epic

Movie Details: Troy Drama | War | Adventure | Action MPAA RATING R for graphic violence and some sexuality/nudity 163 minutes | Color USA WRITTEN BY David Benioff Homer (poem The Illiad)   DIRECTED BY Wolfgang Petersen THEATRICAL RELEASE May 14, 2004   Relevant Sites: IMDB Official Movie Website Watch The Movie Trailers Shopping: Shop Amazon for items related to this movie. Shop for movie posters at AllPosters

"Troy" Review:

          If you haven't heard the story, you were probably raised in Jebib. Troy is the adaptation of Homer's famous novels The Illiad and The Odyssey, and follows the backlash after Paris, the prince of Troy, steals Helen from Menelaus, the king of Sparta. Menelaus asks his brother to go to war with him, for Menelaus it's to take back his dignity, and for Agamemnon it's a chance to expand his Greek kingdom. With them, they bring one thousand ships and fifty thousand soldiers, including Achilles, the famous, nearly immortal Greek soldier whose only goal is immortality through glory. Paris' brother, Hector, the leader of the Trojan army, decides to protect him and takes Troy to war against the outnumbering Greeks.

          This is the greatest story that's ever been told, and now it's one of the most epic films that's ever been made. I don't know if there's been a movie attempted on this scale, not in terms of budget or cast, but in terms of greatness. Troy brings together an ideal director, a perfect cast (even down to the striking resemblance of Bloom and Bana who play Paris and Hector, brothers), a story that's known and loved by anyone who's been to school, and some of the best special effects and cinematography I've ever seen.

          Wolfgang Petersen knows how to direct an epic film, and now Troy makes him the undisputed king of epics. Troy is one of the most impressive looking films I've ever seen. It was filmed in Mexico with about five hundred extras, which makes how authentic it looks even grander. Troy has two distinct tones, it's a love story between Paris and Helen (as well as Achilles and Briseis) and a war story. Petersen takes a movie that is so clearly multidimensional, and combines the different stories flawlessly.

          In fact, I'd go as far as to say Troy is the best war movie I've ever seen. Most war movies, even the good ones, cut so quickly and are so overwhelmed by the scale that you lose focus of individual characters and are just watching people die. Troy keeps it personal, but with magnificent cinematography and special effects, the scale of the battles aren't understated.

          Is Troy historically accurate? Absolutely not… but you have to make concessions turning such a story into a (relatively long, but still not long enough to do it justice) movie. Troy is the Trojan War for the ADD generation; it sticks to the story enough to not infuriate the historical minded people, and entertains more than it educates. Was everyone involved in the Trojan War so darn good looking? No, but that's only the beginning. The Greek Gods are barely mentioned, the war seems to take two weeks as opposed to ten years, and so much liberty is taken with dubbing the Greeks as the bad guys to the heroic and loving Trojans. Halfway through the movie, I turned to one of the people I was with and said, 'Too bad I know who wins, ‘cause I'm really rooting for the Trojans!'

          That being said, this isn't exactly a film about World War II… this was a myth to begin with, why shouldn't Hollywood take anymore liberty than Homer did. (I think it's hilarious to see Homer given screenwriting credits, it's like giving Shakespeare credit for the TV bomb Skin.)

          As far as acting goes, I expected the male cast to do little but bring women into the theatres (especially when the rumors of a pantsless Brad Pitt began swirling around, they're true by the way). I was pleasantly surprised by the trio of cover boys, especially Eric Bana whose performance I believe to be award worthy. Casting the face that launched a thousand ships couldn't have been easy, but in Diane Kruger they found not only a pretty face, but an unfound talent. Although her German accent is more evident than one would have preferred, she captures the conflict between guilt and love that her character feels almost as well as Petersen captures her beauty.

The Bottom Line is that Troy is a tremendous movie. It isn't flawless (it deviates from the original story like a drug addict deviates from reality), but like I said, it was a myth to begin with so everyone should just take it for what it is… a really good, standalone, action and romance film. Troy has an amazing cast, (still) one of the best stories ever told, and a director that's able to capture all of that with the beauty and style of a true artist.