Overall Rating
  Awesome: 22.33%
Worth A Look: 25.24%
Average: 21.04%
Pretty Bad: 14.24%
Total Crap: 17.15%
13 reviews, 231 user ratings
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| Troy |
by MP Bartley
"Is this the gayest name for a city or what?"
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Hi I'm Troy the movie! You may remember my best bits from better movies like 'Spartacus', 'Gladiator' and 'Lord of the Rings: Any part of the trilogy'! But check me out anywayIf there's one thing you know Hollywood loves to do, and does well it's to go epic.'Gladiator' re-started that trend and 'Lord of the Rings' has raised it to a new art-form. 'Troy' takes much from both these influences, but can't quite shake the feeling that it's a bit too Hollywood for its own good and thus will never be seen as the classic treatment that the story deserves. Nevertheless, it still delivers on a grand scale and who are we to turn that down?
Hector (Eric Bana) and Paris (Orlando Bloom), the sons of King Priam of Troy (Peter O'Toole) are being feted in the court of Menaleus (Brendan Gleeson), one of the many kings of Greece and brother to the war-mongering Agememnon (Brian Cox). Agememnon has lusted after the spoils of Troy for years to complete his plans for world domination, but Menaleus is keen on keeping the peace. Until Paris runs off with his wife Helen (Diane Kruger), thus enraging him and playing straight into Agememnon's hands, who rustles up the largest army ever seen to man to conquer Troy and take back Helen in the biggest dick-wagging contest ever seen. Hector is rightly feared as a magnificent warrior, but the Greeks have the tactical genius of Odyessus (Sean Bean) and the near-mythical Achilles (Brad Pitt) to fall back on. And along the way you may remember that a wooden horse will become important...
Since 'Das Boot' it's arguable that Wolfgang Petersen has never come close to producing anything near as classy, bold or thrilling. 'Troy' fits neatly as his second-best film however. He doesn't skimp on the spectacle, and he certainly doesn't disappoint. The shots of the Greek army setting sail are staggering, and would loosen the bowel of any nearby Trojan and the re-created city of Troy is a masterpiece of set-design and beauty that would easily sit in any of the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy. It's clear that Jackson's masterpieces have been foremost in Petersens mind, as he does his best to live up to them. Just when your jaw has hit the ground from the size of the Trojan army outside the gates of Troy, get ready to drop it even further as the Greeks stomp defiantly over the horizon.
It's a shame for Petersen that 'Lord of the Rings' has set the bar so high, because as spectacular as his army's are, they aren't a match for an army of Mummakils. And while the battle of Pelennor fields had a purpose and a grand scale to them, 'Troy' fails to give such a clear impression as to what's going on. As mightily impressive as the two armys are, crashing into each other like waves of steel, there's no sweeping dynamism and it frequently becomes quite static. It's much more convincing however, when it revels in the tactics of battle. A sneak night attack by the Trojans is devastatingly clever, but this battle most rings true when it comes to Hector vs Achilles. Choreographed to the last detail, it shudders and sparks with a righteous fury and an angry vigour.
Despite this, 'Troy' still falls short of the greatness it's aiming for. It fails to have the epic quality it so desperately needs. A war of ten years is seemingly crammed into a few nights battle. And for a film based on Homer, there's little poetry to the films dialogue or soul. The screenplay is where you can feel Hollywoods finger-prints most clearly. There's no depth, and the films only attempt at a moment of beauty is just shamelessly cribbed from 'Gladiator'. It's as if Petersen has allowed the film to be dumbed down when it should soar. Gone is the controversial homosexual aspect to Achilles, with a tepid and farcical slave-girl romance in its place. And Petersen is unsure as to whether to portray the war as a military campaign of for the love of one woman. The war aspect is most prominent, but overly simplistic, but the love triangle is barely touched upon. Menaleus and Helen don't have a scene together and the romance between Helen and Paris barely registers. The film resorts to telling you that it's because they're in love, rather than showing it to you and letting you decide for yourself.
The cast all acquit themselves to varying degrees of success. Bana steals the whole film as a wholly convincing Hector, whose intelligence not to fight for the sake of it, is intertwined with the sense that he's very handy in a scrap. Sean Bean (who's been steadily building a very decent career for himself) also comes up trumps as Odysseus, a fighter every bit as clever and human as Hector. But he's just on the opposite side. Gleeson is a spitefully enraged presence and O'Toole just turns up to be himself. Cox is a very hissable villain although his performance does come ordered with an extra-thick slice of ham and cheese. The weakest links are Bloom and Kruger. Their romace is utterly unconvincing and Kruger is a waterthin presence. Would a war really happen over her? She's good-looking, but far from outstanding and gives the role little sexual charge. Likewise Bloom, as a weedy and wooden presence throughout. Although Paris is seen as a playboy, lost on the battlefield and Bloom conveys that adequately, he doesn't give any energy to his presence as a lover and the dramatic lines he has are woefully bad.
And Pitt? Well he's Brad Pitt pretending to be an ancient warrior. He looks every inch the part and his devotion to the part is clearly obvious in the combat scenes, but you can't help escape the feeling that he's just Brad Pitt. He doesn't dissapear into the character like Bana does and doesn't go over-the-top enough like Cox to make it entertaining. He gives a moody, clenched-jaw performance that never wholly convinces. He's not bad (he rarely is) but he gives 'Troy' that feeling you can't shake of it not being quite realistic enough.As summer entertainment, 'Troy' is a big hitter. A big story, big battle scenes and some big performances make it a thoroughly enjoyable two and a half hours, that occasionally thrill the soul and drop the jaw. It just lacks the epic tone and depth to which all great epics should aspire. When it should be about great men doing great things, it settles for simple men doing great things. And while enjoyable that's never as interesting.
link directly to this review at https://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=9579&reviewer=293
originally posted: 06/10/04 23:58:11
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USA
14-May-2004 (R)
DVD: 04-Jan-2005
UK
N/A
Australia
13-May-2004 (MA)
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