Troy
The Plot:
In 1193 B.C., Prince Paris (Bloom) of Troy stole the beautiful Greek woman, Helen (Kruger), away from her husband, Menelaus, the king of Sparta, setting the two nations at war with each other, as the Greeks began a bloody siege of Troy using their entire armada, led by Achilles (Pitt), that lasted over a decade. (From Yahoo Movies)
My Thoughts: (Reviewed by Big Pun)
Took in a late viewing of Troy on Sunday night….I went into this thing with very little on my plate…I hadn’t followed too much of the hype surrounding the film prior to release…in fact my only knowledge of what the film was bringing to the table was the actors and that the story was based on Homer’s The Illiad….now my knowledge of that piece of writing is limited to the basic outline of the story…the Prince of Troy steals the wife of a Greek King to set of the beginning of the Trojan War…which is highlighted by of course the Trojan Horse packed full with soldiers….I have also heard plenty about Achilles, the great Greek warrior who was invincible and impervious except for that area right at the back of your foot which we know now as the Achilles Tendon….so in short, I had an idea of what I was going to be seeing but hadn’t brought myself to a tizzy with hype in anticipation (I had already made that mistake with Van Helsing).
Well, I am happy to report, we have our first Summer Blockbuster on our hands…TROY was an exceedingly satisfying movie experience filled with all the right ingredients for a big summer smash….Action, action and some more action…mixed in here, we have a pretty solid story to go along with all the fighting and battles that director Wolfgang Peterson hits us with in his sweeping epic…
The movie hovers around the two hour and 45 minute mark and for a good portion of the opening hour, drags along a bit….not enough to complain about, but a bit….you have your plotting and armies getting in positions, etc….so its understandable….
For those not two familiar with the story, I will give a quick background trying not to hit to many spoilers….during a time of peace between the kingdom of Sparta/Greece and Troy, the Prince of Troy, Paris (Orlando Bloom) falls in love with the Helen (Dian Kruger), the wife of Spartan King Menelaus…Paris steals her away and returns to Troy claiming her as his own….now we all know where this is headed…Menelaus, pissed as all hell goes to his brother Agamemnon, the King of Mycenae, a greedy, power hungry ruler hell bent on war…he easily convinces his brother to bring war on the Trojans to save his honor….but in Agamemnon’s mind, this the perfect chance to gain control of all the Aegean sea…he sets sail for the shores of Troy with a thousand ships, ready to conquer…and in his back pocket he has the greatest warrior in Achilles (Brad Pitt) and his band of Myrmidons, a group of super soldiers if you will….only problem is that Achilles has little if not no respect for Agamemnon and his title and will need some convincing to fight…where Odysseus (Sean Bean) makes his first impact, a great military leader in his own right….Troy is led by King Priam (Peter O’Toole) and his first son, the Prince of Troy Hector (Eric Bana)…they must defend their city and Paris against the oncoming of the Greek army…..
And that is the outline of the film…there is lots to applaud here…the battle scenes are wonderfully done and are equally impressive and believable….the acting by Bana is stellar in the role of Hector….for 3/4 of this movie, you hate all the characters for there individual flaws, including Achilles…but Hector continues to stand above as the voice of reason and the leader of the great powerful nation of Troy….Peter O’Toole is splendid as the king of Troy and has a scene with Achilles that is to be remembered and probably the most touching in the film….Pitt has his moments, but some of the script and writing hold him back I think….cinematography is amazing….the score is stellar by James Horner, very appropriate and fitting for an epic type film…and the costumes and set design, right on the money…
Is this a perfect film, no the story or writing had me confused in some of the transitions…at times we are to feel that these great men fight for their place in history and then later for revenge…which is it?...Achilles for instance…comes off as a hot shot punk because he goes to war for the sake of his own glory but really takes form later in the movie when he is out to avenge his cousins death….just kind of out of synch…the romantic stuff in this film doesn’t work for me….Helen is beautiful and all, but it just doesn’t happen for me with her and Paris on film…I don’t see and I feels like its there only because it has to be….also the development of Bloom’s Paris….for 90% of this movie he is this flaming pansy lover boy coward and then in the last 20 minutes the greatest warrior of Troy…I don’t buy that either….
But overall, a really good movie…really good….go check it out and get pumped up for the rest this summer has to offer…Troy is just the tip of the iceberg folks….
Oh, and guys…if your lady friends are hesitant to go….let them know that you get plenty of Pitt prancing around more than half nude in the movie….that should get them there….
Starring: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana,
Orlando Bloom, Peter O'Toole, Diane Kruger
Directed
by: Wolfgang Petersen
Rated R