Beauty, thy name is Troy. Review on Troy Movie

Movies like Troy have long been a genre in Hollywood. All sorts of experimentation has been done and a few great films such as Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments etc, have found a niche for themselves in public consciousness. Troy does not achieve such greatness. Troy is a movie with an ephemeral lifespan.

However, I have ranked it highly because of what it achieves in its brief moments of fame. It manages to be a movie that leaves you satisfied before leaving the theatre and that is what counts in this time of short attention spans.

Troy is based on Homer's 'The Iliad'. I must confess that I have not read the book. A few people told me after watching the movie, that the movie does not do credit to the book. Since I cannot agree or disagree with them, I will be looking at Troy as just a movie and not commenting on how it has been adapted.

The story of Troy goes thus:

Agamemnon is a Greek king who has fought many wars with his neighbors and brought many Greek kings under his allegiance. He has achieved most of this with the help of Achilles (Pitt), the son of a godess, who is considered the greatest warrior of the time. The movie starts with Achilles singlehandedly winning the war of Thessaly for Agamemnnon. Achilles however does not respect the power hungry Agamemnon and his disdain and arrogance is apparent throughout the movie. Agamemnon's brother Minalos of Sparta however, is keen on making peace with the country of Troy, rather than keep fighting.

The movie begins with the two princes of Troy, Hector (Bana) and Paris (Bloom) residing at Sparta and making a pact of peace with Sparta. Paris however falls in love with Helen (Kruger), Minalos' wife. He smuggles her off to Troy with him. This enrages Minalos who approaches his brother and beseeches him to fight for his honour. Agamemnon does not even need the urging, he is already ready and happy to fight. He gets all his troops together and launches a huge attack towards Troy. This is why Helen of Troy is considered to be the face that launched a thousand ships. The rest of the movie is about the Trojan war. The wins and losses and the extraordinary stories of the heroes that fought it. Mainly the movie is about the two protagonists, Hector and Achilles.

Since the movie is based on such a rich story, with so much intricacy and plot already available, the screenplay must have been easy. Peterson (director) has been provided with a vast playground, in which all he has to do is pick and choose the ways in which he will approach the characters. He manages it well. We see the true faces of almost all the characters in the movie. It is true that the main characters of Hector, Achilles, Paris and King Priam (Peter O'Toole) are given a slight priority and much more screen time and much more depth than the others. This however works in narrowing the scope of a movie with too vast a canvas. The audience is relieved in having to concentrate only on a few rather than take in the complexities of the myriad characters.

Acting is the mainstay of this film. This movie would have been resigned to a lesser fate if it had not been for the performances of the actors. Pitt proves his star quality in this movie. Though at the start you are almost annoyed at the exposure he receives, he makes up for it amply later on in the movie when he starts handling the character of Achilles very sensitively. The scene where he cries over the body of Hector and calls him his brother is very beautifully done. Bana is a revelation. I mean he really made me sit up and take notice of the proceedings. His character prince Hector is easily the best of the lot. He handles it with aplomb and manages to create a highly sensible and sensitive Hector.

The scene in which he thinks he killed Achilles, but finds tht it is Achilles' cousin, is exquisite for the portrayal of anguish by Bana. Bloom could easily be considered a disappointment, but that would not be fair, as it is his character that is a disappointment. Paris in the book, is supposedly not as spineless as Paris in the movie, but then again that is what the director decided to do, and Bloom has followed his instructions well. Peter O'Toole is not at his best. He lends too much melodrama where there should be none. However Priam is supposedly nearing senility, so some stuff can be forgiven. The scene where he goes to meet Achilles in his tent, is one of the best of the movie and both Pitt and O'Toole give stunning performances.

The women are relegated to second place in this one. Helen of Troy is a disappointment. Hector's wife is a beautiful lady and manages well, but the best of the lot is the Australian girl who portrays Persayas. We will definitely be seeing a lot more of that gem.

The soundtrack is passable. Reaching amazing heights at parts of the movie (u must listen during the fight between Hector and Achilles), while being almost annoying in other parts. The action sequences can be summed up as great. They provide good visuals and though being a tad predictable still elicit the response required. The cinematography is exceptionally good. The locations are brilliant and it becomes a feast for the eyes.

Now comes my favorite parts. The beauty in Troy. Troy is thorough eye candy for women!... yes it is... Brad Pitt is his gorgeous self and even shows off his obliques in a tent scene. Though that might be considered predictable, Bana takes your breath away with his amazing sensuality and sensitive demeanour. Even Sean Bean, who plays one of the greek kings, is at his gorgeous, lean, tanned best. (I think I might get some comments for having lingered on this, but hey... its a big part of the appeal of the movie!)... There is breathtaking male beauty in this one.

On the flipside, we have a movie that is not too great. In parts it is predictable, in parts even banal. Some dialogue is too melodramatic, (I swear in the scene when Achilles comes to fight Hector and starts shouting his name, I expected him to say something like, 'kutte kameene, bahaar nikal'). It is not exceptional, not even in the league of Gladiator. But it will suffice.

All in all, a great watch, and not just for the ladies (though its a dare-not-miss for them).