Loosely adapted from Homer's The Illiad by David Benioff (The 25th Hour), Troy reduces a decade long war to weeks and cuts the Greek gods out of the story. While both of those changes certainly simplify the storyline to make for a manageable running time, they undercut the movie's claim at being epic. Shortening the war makes it seem more like a siege than an actual war. Removing the gods takes away the sense of fate and destiny that is so much a part of these characters.
Benioff's screenplay not only cuts the gods from a direct part in the story, it carries a running theme of disrespect to those gods. Certainly they are no longer worshipped in our time but they were considered very real then and this movie makes them an afterthought, constructing the story so that characters who act with the gods in mind suffer for it. The filmmakers are free to do what they will with the story but one has to wonder why they would make such radical changes to a story that has endured and prospered for over thee thousand years.
The basic story, as told by the movie, is that during a peace mission to Sparta, the Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom), falls for Helen (Diane Kruger), the wife of Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson) the king of Sparta. When he returns home, Paris takes Helen with him, much to the irritation of his older brother Hector (Eric Bana), not to mention Menelaus. The Spartan king quickly enlists the aid of his brother Agamemnon, who rules all of Greece. Agamemnon is less concerned with his brother's wounded pride than the notion of conquering Troy and seizing control of the entire Aegean Sea. He demands that all the Greek kings come to his aid, creating a fleet of a thousand triremes to sail on Troy. Key to this force is the Greek's greatest warrior Achilles (Brad Pitt). This is troublesome as Achilles fights only for himself and his growing fame and glory. Worse, he has no respect for Agamemnon. Odysseus (Sean Bean), the king of Ithaca, eventually talks Achilles into joining by appealing to his vanity.
Troy features a large and impressive cast. Pitt's Achilles is more or less the central figure but not the best defined. Eric Bana's Hector is far better fleshed out and gives the movie much of its emotional weight. He is nicely complemented by Peter O'Toole who plays the Trojan king Priam. O'Toole is a screen legend and you know exactly why watching this movie. He owns every scene he's in and yet doesn't undercut other actors by overwhelming them. He manages to elevate others in the process, a fine feat. On the opposite side is Brian Cox as Agamemnon, who he turns into a vain snarling villain. Cox clearly reveled in the chance to be thoroughly evil, never missing a chance to chew some scenery. Sean Bean has a small role as Odysseus, which he makes the most of. This is a character that becomes the central figure in The Odyssey, the story that follows The Illiad, but here is a minor figure. Bean made me wish for The Odyssey as a sequel.
On the less successful side of the equation are the lovers Paris and Helen. Diane Kruger is certainly attractive but doesn't make much of an impression. She doesn't really seem like someone a war would be started over. Orlando Bloom is left in a truly awkward position. He plays a weak, unlikable character and is forced to share the screen with the likes of O'Toole. There has been a lot of abuse heaped on his performance, largely undeservedly so. That's not to say he's good. This is clearly the weakest performance he's given but is magnified by the talented veterans he works with. Even when not having to contend with the considerably more nuanced work from Bana, Gleeson and O'Toole, Bloom has to work with Kruger, who as noted earlier, doesn't project much. The poor guy can't win either way.
The special effects in Troy were hideously expensive but they are excellent and mostly blend into the action flawlessly. You can tell how much money has been spent by how little you consciously take note of what are effects and what is real. The digital effects do create a problem though. The major battle scenes are impressive for the number of soldiers created in computers to appear on the battlefield. But little effort seems to have gone into organizing how these digital warriors fight. When two giant armies clash, it's just a muddle of action. There is little feel for how the battle is going. The Greeks were so successful in war because they developed very effective weapons and armor for a particular fighting style. The movie does a very poor job of showing that. It makes the Greeks rather devoid of personality as a group. Oddly, the Trojans are shown more effectively utilizing the Greek military tactics than the Greeks themselves. And then when two major characters meet on the battlefield, everybody stops to watch them duke it out. This is truly ridiculous.
One of the movie's flaws is actually something taken directly from Homer. Who exactly are we supposed to be rooting for here? The Greeks? They are led by a vicious dictator and commanded by an arrogant selfish warrior. Should we root for the Trojans, with the spoiled Paris starting the whole problem because he couldn't keep his hands to himself? These characters are very human and have real flaws and complications. That makes them interesting but doesn't give the audience any clear signals as to how to view these events.
I've done a lot of complaining but that's not to indicate that Troy is a bad movie. It's better described as disappointing. There are some moments of real brilliance in it. The fight between Hector and Achilles is spectacular. Beautifully choreographed and carried out by the actual actors, it is dramatic and thrilling. The simple beat supplied by the score is surprisingly effective as well. This is followed by perhaps the best acted scene in the film in which King Priam comes to Achilles tent to beg him for the return of his son's body that it might be given the proper rights. Director Wolfgang Petersen gives the actors all the time they need to make the scene work beautifully. The cinematography, costumes, sets and special effects are all wonderful.
Troy will certainly entertain. What it doesn't do is work all the time. As often as it is spectacular, it seems unsure of itself. It makes the point of repeatedly stating that the actions of these people will be remembered forever. It hammers relentlessly on that theme as if it doesn't trust the audience to recognize how big this all is. And if you still aren't getting how important this all is, there is always the yodeling woman in the background trying to give the whole thing some otherworldly feel but more likely making viewers wonder just how long someone can make those noises without getting bored and going home. I mentioned a sequel earlier and while it seems a natural on the surface, one has to wonder how that would work. Removing the gods in this story is manageable and possibly a good thing for keeping a clear narrative but for The Odyssey, their absence is lethal. Many of these characters are major factors in other famed Greek works and the fact that some were killed off at the wrong moment precludes these being followed up on.
But then again, who cares about Greek tragedies when you have the heavily muscled Mr. Pitt in a leather skirt to entertain audiences and make women swoon?
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