meteordust (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
meteordust) wrote2004-06-22 11:45 pm
meteordust) wrote2004-06-22 11:45 pm
Entry tags:
Troy
When I first saw the trailer for this movie, it blew me away. The scene I'm talking about is the one with the ships - you know, where the camera pulls back, and back, and back, until you see the whole surface of the ocean covered with hundreds of ships. Plus you've got the epic battles, and Achilles and Patroclus, and the whole Greek mythology thing. So I was pretty sure this was a movie I wanted to see.
And then the reviews started filtering in. They ranged from "decent but not a must-see", to "omg they butchered it" and "wtf cousins?" So when I went in to watch Troy, it was with modest expectations.
Well, there was stuff I loved, and stuff I hated, but in general I'd agree that it was entertaining enough but not unmissable.
Things I liked:
* Achilles. I was really impressed with Brad Pitt's portrayal of the character - arrogant, egotistic, and also a supreme warrior akin to a force of nature. Not likeable by any means, but very convincing.
* Odysseus! He's always been one of my favourite characters, the sly trickster, and Sean Bean nailed the role perfectly.
* Hector. Because, y'know, he's the heroic guy, the champion, the loyal husband and protector. Which Eric Bana did pretty well. (Though they did clean Hector up a bit and didn't have him threatening to feed Patroclus's body to the dogs.)
* Briseis. Rose Byrne did a good job of fleshing out a bit part character. I still went "What the hell?" when she killed Agamemnon though. And I'm pretty sure she wasn't Hector's cousin in The Iliad. (When Briseis said to Achilles, "You lost your cousin, and now have taken mine," I was thinking, "None of you are bloody cousins!")
* Priam. Because Peter O'Toole has a beautiful, beautiful voice. What is it about British actors of a certain generation that lets them project such dignity and gravitas?
* Paris. When I heard Orlando Bloom was going to be playing him, I was worried that they were going to make changes to the character to make him more appealing to the audience. But they kept Paris as the cowardly loser he was, so I was satisfied.
Things I didn't like:
* Patroclus. The cousin thing aside, I was disappointed to see Patroclus portrayed as the tagalong kid who needed to be protected from the fighting. I'll admit that the movie was internally consistent and believable in terms of Patroclus's story arc, but dammit, I wanted to see the courageous warrior who slew enemies left, right and centre - the guy it took two men and a god to kill.
* Agamemnon and Menelaus. I can believe in an Agamemnon who cared only for power and conquest. I can believe in a Menelaus who saw Helen only as a trophy. But they were also supposed to be great warriors and leaders, and the movie turned them into cartoon villains. It was cheap and it was badly done.
* The lack of gods. Er, didn't the war come about in the first place because Paris had to choose between the goddesses? And you know the bit where Achilles knocks the head off Apollo's statue? If this was The Iliad, Apollo so would have smote him down right there.
* The lack of respect shown towards the gods. This was probably the worst thing about the movie. The people who believed in the gods were portrayed as foolish and superstitious, while the people who didn't believe were portrayed as smart and sensible. It was a case of imputing modern attitudes to ancient peoples, and it jarred very badly.
So yeah, interesting movie, I'm not sorry I watched it, but it still could have been much better.
And then the reviews started filtering in. They ranged from "decent but not a must-see", to "omg they butchered it" and "wtf cousins?" So when I went in to watch Troy, it was with modest expectations.
Well, there was stuff I loved, and stuff I hated, but in general I'd agree that it was entertaining enough but not unmissable.
Things I liked:
* Achilles. I was really impressed with Brad Pitt's portrayal of the character - arrogant, egotistic, and also a supreme warrior akin to a force of nature. Not likeable by any means, but very convincing.
* Odysseus! He's always been one of my favourite characters, the sly trickster, and Sean Bean nailed the role perfectly.
* Hector. Because, y'know, he's the heroic guy, the champion, the loyal husband and protector. Which Eric Bana did pretty well. (Though they did clean Hector up a bit and didn't have him threatening to feed Patroclus's body to the dogs.)
* Briseis. Rose Byrne did a good job of fleshing out a bit part character. I still went "What the hell?" when she killed Agamemnon though. And I'm pretty sure she wasn't Hector's cousin in The Iliad. (When Briseis said to Achilles, "You lost your cousin, and now have taken mine," I was thinking, "None of you are bloody cousins!")
* Priam. Because Peter O'Toole has a beautiful, beautiful voice. What is it about British actors of a certain generation that lets them project such dignity and gravitas?
* Paris. When I heard Orlando Bloom was going to be playing him, I was worried that they were going to make changes to the character to make him more appealing to the audience. But they kept Paris as the cowardly loser he was, so I was satisfied.
Things I didn't like:
* Patroclus. The cousin thing aside, I was disappointed to see Patroclus portrayed as the tagalong kid who needed to be protected from the fighting. I'll admit that the movie was internally consistent and believable in terms of Patroclus's story arc, but dammit, I wanted to see the courageous warrior who slew enemies left, right and centre - the guy it took two men and a god to kill.
* Agamemnon and Menelaus. I can believe in an Agamemnon who cared only for power and conquest. I can believe in a Menelaus who saw Helen only as a trophy. But they were also supposed to be great warriors and leaders, and the movie turned them into cartoon villains. It was cheap and it was badly done.
* The lack of gods. Er, didn't the war come about in the first place because Paris had to choose between the goddesses? And you know the bit where Achilles knocks the head off Apollo's statue? If this was The Iliad, Apollo so would have smote him down right there.
* The lack of respect shown towards the gods. This was probably the worst thing about the movie. The people who believed in the gods were portrayed as foolish and superstitious, while the people who didn't believe were portrayed as smart and sensible. It was a case of imputing modern attitudes to ancient peoples, and it jarred very badly.
So yeah, interesting movie, I'm not sorry I watched it, but it still could have been much better.
no subject
I had *exactly* the same reaction to that preview. Haven't seen the movie, though.
The lack of respect shown towards the gods.
Ah, interesting. I had heard someone say that although the gods weren't *present*, people still did what they did because they believed in them, so that was sorta ok. I certainly dislike the attitude-transplant thing you describe.
no subject