Troy
My wife's a "fan" of Brad Pitt, so it only made sense that I would inevitably see Troy. She comes with me to see Kate Beckinsale fight vampires all the time, so I figure we're even.
It's easy to categorize Troy as a movie in the vein of the sweeping historical epics like Spartacus and The Ten Commandments. The musical score swells, lots of extras mill about, and the camera moves slowly over panoramic views. Only in the 21st century, the musical score still swells, digitized extras using the Massive engine (first invented for Lord of the Rings) makes the extras mill about, and the camera moves slowly over computer-generated panoramic views. For all intents and purposes, the effect is largely the same.
It's easier to categorize what Troy is not...
Troy is NOT Gladiator. Troy has far too many characters to focus exclusively on one man's revenge. Unfortunately, Troy tries to do just that in the character of Achilles (Brad Pitt). It doesn't work, if only because one has difficulty sympathizing with a killing machine. Even if that killing machine walks around half-naked displaying his tanned washboard abs. Lots of men could empathize with The Spaniard. There's very few folks to like in Troy.
Troy is NOT Helen of Troy. There were plenty of flaws with Helen of Troy, not the least of which being that if you're going to use the premise that Helen's really worth launching a thousand ships for, she better be incredibly hot. Helen of Troy's Helen simply didn't have that much allure. Fortunately, the Helen of this movie (Diane Kruger) is very attractive. On the other hand, her beauty is largely wasted because this is not about romance. Where the Iliad played up the star-crossed lovers angle, this movie makes it clear (over and over and OVER) that the war is actually about much less noble aims. In other words, Helen's just an excuse to start a war that would have happened anyway. Which is sort of like saying that Moses just sort of made up the Ten Commandments. I imagine Charlton Heston would have made a much less impressive movie as a result.
Troy is NOT Clash of the Titans. Every mythical or supernatural trace has been eradicated from the script. Achilles isn't invulnerable ("why else would I use a shield?"). You won't see a bearded Zeus arguing with...well, anybody.
Troy is a semi-realistic retelling of an event, with the presumption - one might say, arrogant assumption - that the Iliad is in fact an embellishment of the whole thing. In transforming it into a simple if somewhat overblown war story, it has parallels to Americas' conflict with Iraq. A powerful nation attacks a smaller country for construed reasons (Helen), only to find the protracted war to be more costly than expected. Indeed, there's even weapons of mass destruction - flaming balls of straw unleashed on slumbering Greeks.
Troy has its moments. Achilles is a true martial artist and his combat is breathtaking. Achilles himself is part of the scenery. Brad Pitt, at 40-years-old, looks like he was sculpted from marble. He FEELS like a hero of Greek myth. Eric Bana's furrowed brow lends a tinge of regret to Hector. And Orlando Bloom is suitably whiny and impetuous as Paris. Heck, even Sean Bean plays the role of Odysseus, lending his measured tones to a man who has seen so much that he has his own string of movies.
Troy's strength is also its weakness. The familiarity of the characters breeds contempt. When Paris picks up a bow and fires arrows at Achilles and the hero continues to stump forward as arrow after arrow thuds into his chest, I couldn't help but flash back to Legolas (Orlando Bloom) firing a bow and Boromir (Sean Bean) stumbling to orc archery. The Lord of the Rings trilogy has not even grown cold...either Troy has an eerily similar parallel or directors are already filming an homage to Peter Jackson.
And that's the problem. Troy feels like a movie made by movie stars about some stuff that happened in the past. Troy plays fast and loose with history and with the characters, but gives the actors plenty of time to enunciate and emote. It is truly an actor's movie. It also not a great movie, in the way Cleopatra isn't a great movie but people still watch it to see the stars.
For historical buffs, Troy is a revisionist travesty. For moviegoers looking for an action flick, Troy's not exciting enough to hold their interest. For fans of Greek mythology, Troy offers almost nothing at all. Troy wants to be something entirely different...but nobody ASKED for that kind of movie. It's almost as if the director felt the actual plot of the Iliad is too juvenile for modern audiences. Homer would disagree.
It's easy to categorize Troy as a movie in the vein of the sweeping historical epics like Spartacus and The Ten Commandments. The musical score swells, lots of extras mill about, and the camera moves slowly over panoramic views. Only in the 21st century, the musical score still swells, digitized extras using the Massive engine (first invented for Lord of the Rings) makes the extras mill about, and the camera moves slowly over computer-generated panoramic views. For all intents and purposes, the effect is largely the same.
It's easier to categorize what Troy is not...
Troy is NOT Gladiator. Troy has far too many characters to focus exclusively on one man's revenge. Unfortunately, Troy tries to do just that in the character of Achilles (Brad Pitt). It doesn't work, if only because one has difficulty sympathizing with a killing machine. Even if that killing machine walks around half-naked displaying his tanned washboard abs. Lots of men could empathize with The Spaniard. There's very few folks to like in Troy.
Troy is NOT Helen of Troy. There were plenty of flaws with Helen of Troy, not the least of which being that if you're going to use the premise that Helen's really worth launching a thousand ships for, she better be incredibly hot. Helen of Troy's Helen simply didn't have that much allure. Fortunately, the Helen of this movie (Diane Kruger) is very attractive. On the other hand, her beauty is largely wasted because this is not about romance. Where the Iliad played up the star-crossed lovers angle, this movie makes it clear (over and over and OVER) that the war is actually about much less noble aims. In other words, Helen's just an excuse to start a war that would have happened anyway. Which is sort of like saying that Moses just sort of made up the Ten Commandments. I imagine Charlton Heston would have made a much less impressive movie as a result.
Troy is NOT Clash of the Titans. Every mythical or supernatural trace has been eradicated from the script. Achilles isn't invulnerable ("why else would I use a shield?"). You won't see a bearded Zeus arguing with...well, anybody.
Troy is a semi-realistic retelling of an event, with the presumption - one might say, arrogant assumption - that the Iliad is in fact an embellishment of the whole thing. In transforming it into a simple if somewhat overblown war story, it has parallels to Americas' conflict with Iraq. A powerful nation attacks a smaller country for construed reasons (Helen), only to find the protracted war to be more costly than expected. Indeed, there's even weapons of mass destruction - flaming balls of straw unleashed on slumbering Greeks.
Troy has its moments. Achilles is a true martial artist and his combat is breathtaking. Achilles himself is part of the scenery. Brad Pitt, at 40-years-old, looks like he was sculpted from marble. He FEELS like a hero of Greek myth. Eric Bana's furrowed brow lends a tinge of regret to Hector. And Orlando Bloom is suitably whiny and impetuous as Paris. Heck, even Sean Bean plays the role of Odysseus, lending his measured tones to a man who has seen so much that he has his own string of movies.
Troy's strength is also its weakness. The familiarity of the characters breeds contempt. When Paris picks up a bow and fires arrows at Achilles and the hero continues to stump forward as arrow after arrow thuds into his chest, I couldn't help but flash back to Legolas (Orlando Bloom) firing a bow and Boromir (Sean Bean) stumbling to orc archery. The Lord of the Rings trilogy has not even grown cold...either Troy has an eerily similar parallel or directors are already filming an homage to Peter Jackson.
And that's the problem. Troy feels like a movie made by movie stars about some stuff that happened in the past. Troy plays fast and loose with history and with the characters, but gives the actors plenty of time to enunciate and emote. It is truly an actor's movie. It also not a great movie, in the way Cleopatra isn't a great movie but people still watch it to see the stars.
For historical buffs, Troy is a revisionist travesty. For moviegoers looking for an action flick, Troy's not exciting enough to hold their interest. For fans of Greek mythology, Troy offers almost nothing at all. Troy wants to be something entirely different...but nobody ASKED for that kind of movie. It's almost as if the director felt the actual plot of the Iliad is too juvenile for modern audiences. Homer would disagree.
posted by talien | 9:03 AM
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