JOSHUA: Movie Review: Troy



Illiad in 2 and a half hours. Wished they shot this when I was still in High School.



I remember having to work my way through homer's epic for a book report in high school. It took me weeks before I was able to finish reading it. I was wondering back then, why on Earth would my Lit professor want me to read something like this?



Okay, so it was really an ordeal. Reading the Illiad would have been much fun without the pressure of the book report. I mean, a book about the Olympian Gods and Godesses and its Heroes. What's not there to love? Bottom line, I'm happy my prof had me read through it, at least I was able to discuss some of the ins and outs of the movie with my co-watchers, such as as to why Achilles was a great fighter, or why the Greeks needed to place two coins on the eyes of their dead.



Anyways, back to the movie. As always, I try to look at the movie as that of a work from the POV of the director (in this case, by Wolfgang Petersen - love his work on Air Force One) and not really on the material it was based on (Homer's Illiad). From that stand point, I have to say that Mr. Petersen (and his writer, Mr. David Denioff) did an excellent job. It's not the same as what happened in the Illiad (a decade long war) but then again he's making a movie and not a book. A decade might have been quite distracting for the audience; the shortened period of mere days (or possibly weeks for sihp travel) enhances the thrill on watching the movie. Am still wondering what would have happened if he still included the Gods into the story. Maybe he would have been right and would have made the story a bit silly.



The actors were fit for their role. Pitt, Bana and Bloom were interestingly enough fit for their characters. Some would comment that Pitt's acting was not really superb, but then again what emotions would you expect from a Fighter like Achilles. Bana was good. He was able to show a wide range of emotions, the different aspects of Hector. Bloom was well... he was fit as Paris. They needed someone who was charming and not as capable as the other two fighters. The action scenes were fantastic. The choreography was very interesting - kinda like putting martial arts into armored swordsfight.



Though I was beginning to think that the men kinda showed too much skin for an action movie.



As for the gals who played Helen and Hector's cousin (I cant' seem to remember their names), they were functionable. At first I was wondering why they used Diane Kruger as the "face who launched a thousand ships" where there are clearly more enchanting faces available. But then again it was Agammemnon (Brian Cox - great acting) who answered something like: "I did not launch a thousand ships to get you wife, I launched them to get troy." Oh, well that's Mr. Petersen for you.