Before examining “”Troy””, the adaptation of Homer’s “”The Iliad”” as well as the newest film from director Wolfgang Petersen (“”The Perfect Storm””, “”Air Force One””), it’s best to make clear that the picture takes some liberties with the original story.
Among other details, there appears to be little direct involvement by the gods and goddesses (such as Zeus, Aphrodite, and all those up on high), plot developments, including which characters live and die, are altered, and what was supposed to be a 10-year war seems to last a matter of days…maybe weeks. The changes to the text would be enough for a whole volume, and those looking for something more faithful will be surely disappointed.Since this issue has been addressed, the question to ask now is this: how does the movie “”Troy”” measure up? The answer is, well…from a visual standpoint, from the sets, the scenery, the vast battles, and the overhead view of the ships, this flick is most impressive. There are certain moments that come across as a little too CGI-ish, but overall the effort to bring the look and feel of a vast conflict has paid off.On the other hand, given the impressive acting talent heading in, including such names as Peter O’ Toole, Orlando Bloom, Brendan Gleeson, and Julie Christie, among others, the film offers little in terms of standout performances. As far as dialogue goes, there is a lot of “”This will be a great battle/war”” and “”People will remember our names long after we’re gone”” type speeches, and other lines that offer summations of what has transpired—again, nothing too special here. Some of the characters even behave, well, silly,…but more on that later.This edition of the story (again, keep in mind this is the 2004 film rendition) begins with the Greeks, led by King Agamemnon (Brian Cox) trying to subdue stubborn Thessaly, ruled by Triopas (Julian Glover). Rather than a fight between the two forces, the leaders of the two sides decide to have each one’s best warrior face off one-on-one—Boagrius (Nathan Jones) for Thessaly and Achilles (Brad Pitt) for Greece. The latter reluctantly attends to this task—he despises Agamemnon, which becomes one of the themes throughout the movie–but proves his worth by easily defeating the much larger Boagrius, leading to Greece annexing Thessaly.Meanwhile, over in Sparta, King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson)–Agamemnon’s brother–has just completed a peace treaty with Troy, much to the chagrin of his hawkish sibling. This treaty is extremely short-lived, as one of the Trojan envoys, Prince Paris (Orlando Bloom), has had a fling with Menelaus’ wife Helen (Diane Kruger), and these two fall very quickly in love. This, combined with Helen tiring of her husband, leads to the Spartan Queen running off with Paris on his ship back to Troy.Menelaus is none too pleased that his wife has left him, and this plays right into his brother’s hands. Agamemnon, it turns out, has had designs on adding the Trojans to his list of subjects. As a result of Menelaus’ situation and subsequent desire for revenge, there is now a pretext–in Agamemnon’s mind anyway–for an invasion of Troy.[pagebreak]This undertaking, however, requires the involvement of the renegade Achilles, who the King feels could just as easily fight against the Greeks as with them. Agamemnon decides to send Odysseus (Sean Bean)–the King of Ithaca and the Greek warrior’s only true friend–to persuade him to join the fight. Odysseus is successful in this task, and so Achilles bids his mother, Thetis (Julie Christie), farewell, whereby she tells him that he will reap great glory in this conflict but will unfortunately not survive.Achilles, leading his troops, a.k.a. the Myrmidons, and joined by his inexperienced-but-eager-to-fight cousin Patroclus (Garrett Hedlund), heads into the War along with the other Greek forces (about roughly a thousand ships, give or take). Over on the Trojan side, King Priam (Peter O’Toole) having realized the trouble that his son Paris’ actions have caused, has prepared his citizens for face the coming invaders, though he feels that the city’s strong connection to the sun god Apollo will protect them–that and its extremely high walls. Troy’s forces are led by Priam’s other son Hector (Eric Bana), who, despite his initial misgivings over his brother’s behavior, becomes more supportive of his sib as the story unfolds, and serves as the rational counterpoint to his father’s more symbolism-(religious visions and the like) based strategy.After successfully capturing the beach–thanks to Achilles–and setting up camp there, Agamemnon grows overconfident and begins dividing up the spoils of war (before his side has even claimed such spoils). This upsets Greece’s top fighter, and when ‘his’ King claims a Trojan woman to be his slave, well, Achilles and Agamemnon really come to blows. The woman, as it turns out, is Briseis (Rose Byrne), a priestess of Apollo and cousin to Hector and Paris, and soon is, well, sharing Achilles’ tent (to put it one way); this puts a serious crimp in the Greek ruler’s plans of conquest.There are some good themes in “”Troy””, though despite the film’s long running time many are given short shrift. The one that appeals the most, and seems the most relevant, is the concept of large numbers of young soldiers being sent overseas to fight a conflict that they have little stake in. As one puts it here, “”50,000 men are being brought to fight for one man’s greed”” (the greed here can be either Menelaus wanting his unhappy wife back or Agamemnon wanting to expand his empire), and Achilles attitude epitomizes this as he really sees this as Agamemnon’s War–only it is young men fighting, and dying, while the leaders try to gain all the glory.The rivalry between Greece’s leader and top fighter is what keeps the movie really interesting, even more so than that between the Greeks and the Trojans. Achilles and Agamemnon debate on the nature of the Trojan War–and on War in general, with the latter arguing that “”history remembers kings not soldiers”” and hence claiming that victory here belongs to him alone. Achilles takes the opposing view, reminding the ruler that any victory in this struggle is due to the troops–the young men fighting…and dying–rather than the political leaders.This subplot provides much substance–more than can be said for what occurs on the Trojan side. Paris comes across as bratty (interestingly enough, Bloom here resembles his “”Lord of the Rings”” co-star Elijah Wood) and unrealistic–the part may require this to an extent, but this character seems a little too–well, he doesn’t quite grasp the situation to put it one way. The scene where Paris and Hector talk early on while voyaging back to Troy (“”What trouble have you gotten into now brother?””) comes across as a little too cheesy, as do some of the later moments, where Bloom’s character seems like a spoiled wimp, and it’s hard to understand what Helen sees in him.[pagebreak]Acting-wise, Cox does well as Agamemnon, Pitt–despite the movie demanding a ‘hunk’ type role from him–has his moments, and Bana is decent as a miliary leader/prince whose strategizing contrasts with his father’s faith-based tendencies, and who must also deal with his family life–specifically wife Andromache (Saffron Burrows) and infant son Scamandrius (Matthew and Luke Tal). Byrne’s Briseis, meanwhile gives some interesting religious commentary which isn’t explored quite enough. O’Toole, as Priam, seems to underact, given his great credentials, though he has his moments (most notably the speech he gives to Achilles late in the film), and veterans Glover and Christie perform well, though their roles are rather small.There are plenty of characters here, as could be understood in this type of epic, but the movie could have done without the time given to Patroclus, or to Hector’s home life. The film also tends to drag at certain moments, such Hector’s preparation for a fight with Achilles, and the same goes for many of the other moments between battles. Still, when the depictions of fighting do come, they give vivid coverage of a massive conflict, and at times blood is literally sprayed everywhere.The dialogue, again, is not that special–save for moments like the Achilles-Agamemnon sparring above. It’s true than an epic like this is about the physical, not the verbal, but there could have less of the “”every one will remember this battle/struggle/war/whatever for years to come”” speeches and discussions that take up about a third of the flick, and less simple stating of plot developments (“”we’re winning””, or “”we’re losing””, for instance). In addition, Paris’ lines are a downside as well (as can be inferred from above); again, maybe it is the way the character was meant to be, but this is one individual who really needs to grasp the situation and the concept of battle, i.e. risking one’s life.””Troy””, then, provides light entertainment at times—as light as a 2 and 3/4 hour long film can be—some interesting, and timely, discussions about war, and the rationale behind starting inter-regional conflicts. Still, there is a strong ‘cheese’ factor–especially with the Trojan subplots–and things tend to slow down when there aren’t battle sequences. Those who are looking for plenty of action will find themselves pleased, but individuals seeking to learn more about Homer’s “”The Iliad”” should, well…read “”The Iliad””.Grade: B-EM Reviewby Andrew Haas5/14/04