Review: Troy (2004)

While we’re talking swords and sandals, let’s go back to 2004 for another such film with a somewhat mixed reception. Here we have something taking on a story thousands of years old, of demigods and heroes told over and over through the centuries—so naturally we have Brad Pitt front and center. Here’s my take on Troy…

In all seriousness, Pitt isn’t really that bad in this one. In fact, given how much the camera likes to show off his pecs and abs, well, you can easily argue that this is in fact not inaccurate to Ancient Greek culture (though the film goes out of its way to make clear that he is in fact into women and only women, because it’s still 2004). As far as the cast goes, overall it’s not half bad at all—we have established actors like Brian Cox, Peter O’Toole, and Brendan Gleeson all dominating their scenes as assorted kings of Greece and Troy, and we even have Sean Bean in a minor but memorable role as Odysseus himself (and hey, we can guess he actually lives in this one!). 

So with that in mind, how does it tackle a tale as old as antiquity itself? Eh—with mixed results. Here, we have Cox as King Agamemnon—here rather upfrontly an expansionist tyrant, as opposed to being somewhat more ambitious in the original poem. Achilles as played by Pitt is here less a demigod and more a jaded mercenary alongside his Myrmidons cajoled or convinced by this king and his confederates, who use the kidnapping of Gleeson’s wife Helen (Diane Kruger) by Orlando Bloom’s Paris as an excuse to launch a conquest of Troy itself. 

It’s that type of adaptation that strips away mentions of Zeus and Athena to try and portray a purely human war, spurred on by greed and short-sightedness from one side or another—not an invalid approach to take. At the same time, it does try to have its cake and eat it—once again things boil down between massive armies to their respective heroes duelling it out between them. And don’t get me wrong, when we have Pitt versus Eric Bana’s Hector, it’s actually pretty slickly directed—but at the same time, it feels actually less complex than it seems to think it is, even compared to an epic from about 2500 years ago. Part of me feels they should’ve gone either all in on ‘realism’, or embraced our heroes here as upfrontly channelling the intercession of Olympus and all that. 

So basically, whether this was all deliberate on director Wolfgang Peterson’s part or not, it all boils down to whether you think the cast can elevate what feels like an otherwise slightly uncertain narrative—and apart from maybe Orlando Bloom being a bit too wide-eyed, it’s certainly possible that you might. There’s the Director’s Cut that supposedly elevates things, as it often does, though it’s probably not the one you’re most likely to stumble on these days. 

Despite all that, the film still feels closer to the Illiad than a version made today might, even trying its best to have Achilles sulk in his tent and make it entertaining for the viewers. It makes me wonder how they might’ve approached a followup with Sean Bean fronting the Odyssey—a story where you really can’t just brush aside acts of Poseidon and all the charming Charybdis-dwelling critters therein!

But yeah, that leaves Troy as something that could’ve been better, but probably works as a casual watch for most. That being said, for better pseudo historical films that happen to star Brad Pitt, you can always do Inglorious Basterds instead!