Troy - Spectacular but really c'mon...

Troy in short has tried to be Lord of the Rings in this earth instead of Middle-earth. You will see so many elements such as the cinematography and choreography that are so similar to LOTR. However, Troy should be given credit where its due. It has done a good job with the spectacle. Wolfgang Peterson has given Peter Jackson some competition in this department.

However, story-wise it is okay. It is not something I will talk about the next day over coffee or anything. The battle and fight scenes were the only absorbing moments. Here the director has done a splendid job in choreographing the fight scenes, especially the one between Achilles and Hector. It shows a battle of aggression that does not hold back on one side and aggression brought on by wrong-doing, loyalty and duty on the other. Eric Bana's (Hector) performance is one of the best throughout the movie and of course I don't think Peter O'Toole needs mention here.

The other moments are few and they do not hold up very well. This is mainly due to the actor's lack of ability to delive dialogues with any Greek authority. Also, the dialogue does not lend itself to incredulous grandeur that was evoked in movies such as LOTR. Some of the dialogues that Agamemnon has are just downright pathetic. They do not befit a great king of kings and a warrior. The less mentioned about Menelaus the better. The guy looks more Scottish with a Scottish accent than Greek. He just doesn't fit the Greek bill for me. Orlando Bloom is funny but effective as Paris and Diane Kruger is well just pretty. However, the sort of passion and ardor is not evoked in the scenes where they are together. This brings me to my point. There are really no scenes where the viewer feels like he has much to lose or gain by getting into the character's shoes. The characters do not evoke any feelings of regret, pain or happiness in the audience. LOTR was more effective in doing so due to its amazing character development.

Brad Pitt as Achilles... please!!! The guy does look the part very much but he has a very hard time carrying it off. Achilles in the Illiad is emotional, aggressive and overall a very colourful character. However, Brad Pitt is just straight and not very emotive in his performance. He tries to do so especially with his love and when he is with Sean Bean (Odysseus). Another more involved performer such as Russell Crowe would have done justice to the job.

However, the same cannot be said about Eric Bana as Hector. He is probably the only actor in the whole movie who keeps to the character so well. He evokes a conflicted emotion of loyalty to his father and loyalty to his country. It is extremely effective and I think Wolfgang Peterson has played to Eric Bana's strength here. Bana has done a wonderful job bringing out aggression, emotion, conflict and strength all of them hallmarks of a great and intelligent warrior.

Overall the movie is well done; however, it does leave the heart to desire a bit more performance wise and handling wise. Definitely worth a watch, atleast once.

Rating: 3/5 (any object you'd like to put here.)