Troy

It seems the latest Hollywood trend is to mutilate potential masterpieces. The story of the Trojan war by Homer is a literary marvel, and all the pieces are there for a fantastic movie. But I don't care if you have Wolfgang Petersen directing, Brad Pitt and Eric Bana starring, a great story, none of it matters if the script is as big of a pile of garbage as Troy's was. I am unsure who adapted it, but whoever did was trying way too hard and should have kept it simple. Another disappointment was the direction of Wolfgang Petersen. A director with a lot of vision obviously spent too much time trying to replicate the 1999 masterpiece by Ridley Scott, Gladiator. Why he chose to do it in the same style is beyond me, but he did and the movie suffered for it. Not that this movie was a total disaster. Some nice visuals that gave the epic battle sequences a nice feel to them. The stunts and action themselves however was a little tame for my tastes, a little bland and old. Especially the battle between Achiles and Hector which I thought would be a fantastick climax looked like a lousy creation of the final battle in Gladiator that pittted Maximus against the Emperor. Other positives included the terrific performances by the actors, most notably Eric Bana who I thought soiled his reputation after Hulk but managed to pull out a powerful performance. Orlando Bloom was a damper on the picture on the otherwise beautifuly casted actors. Very disappointing film, but worth a look.