Wolfgang Petersen · Warner Bros. Pictures · Blu-Ray
★★★⯪
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Note: This review contains spoilers
## First impressions, summary
So full disclosure. This is the second time I've watched this movie. The first time was in high school when we were learning about Homer's works. I sort of remembered the broad strokes, but I didn't really remember the details. So since Chris Nolan’s The Odyssey is coming out later this week, I figured I would give it a watch. After all, the two stories are supposed to be connected. I should mention that this was the Director's Cut of the movie, which is the version that is contained in my Triple Feature bundle of 300, Alexander (also the DC), and Troy.
Our story begins as many stories do, with a boy and a girl. Paris (Orlando Bloom) and Helen (Diane Kruger). And they're in love. And she's married to someone else. Things are already looking pretty bad for the couple, but it just so happens that Helen is married to Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), the King of Sparta. Helen escapes with Paris to Troy, Paris' home country and where he happens to be a prince of. His arrogance makes him believe he can both protect Helen and justify potential war with the Greeks. Paris' brother Hector (Eric Bana) warns him of the impending doom he's bringing to Troy, but Paris will not hear of it. And so, the Greeks declare war on Troy and Achilles (Brad Pitt) is dispatched to reluctantly lead the army. However, the walls prove to be impenetrable. It is stated that the war could last 10 years and Troy would still be self-sustaining, So then a Greek soldier, Odysseus (Sean Bean), comes up with a clever way to breach the walls without needing to knock over the powerful walls. Major bloodshed and fighting ensues.
## What worked
The story was surprisingly easy to keep track of. I guess I just needed to get a little older to appreciate the movie, since I remember it being a slog fest back in the day. I didn't hate that they went with a more realistic approach. I never really bought the whole idea that Gods were involved in these squabbles. It's a solid sandal and sword war movie.
The action is pretty good as well. Nothing super fancy or stylized like 300. It's realistic and somewhat visceral. Hector's death scene will always make me extremely angry. Orlando Bloom did a great job at making me hate his character.
Speaking of which, the movie also has an all-star cast with performances to match. The only actor that felt a little out of place was Brian Cox, but that's only because he's just the type to chew the scenery. Still, he played a great Agamemnon. Peter O'Toole also killed it as Priam. It's a very operatic movie and I can see why it would rub some people the wrong way, but it worked for me.
## What didn't
The cinematography felt a big on the bland side. The scale also didn't feel so big as well. I mostly just remember a flat plane of desert land with the Trojan walls in the background. Visually, it wasn't very impressive.
I also didn't really buy the love story between Paris and Helen. The story was already crammed as it is (even in the DC) but I felt that they should have had a little more time to set that up. Or maybe there just wasn't chemistry there. After all, I couldn't really respect Paris as a character so that might be why. I just couldn't see why Helen would fall for such a coward.
The dialogue also felt wooden at times, but the actors did their best to deal with what they had. I didn't mind the liberties they took with the mythology, but I did kind of dislike that certain things happened that should not have happened yet. For example, Agamemnon is killed in this movie, when it was supposed to happen in the Odyssey.
## Verdict
Despite its flaws, Troy is a very entertaining movie. It isn't Gladiator, but it is a very solid watch. I think the movie gets a lot of unnecessary hate.
Achilles: "The gods envy us. They envy us because we're mortal, because any moment may be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again."