Each week, I will look at a movie that is currently in theaters or available to stream and give some reasons why people should watch it. This isn’t necessarily a film critique, rather, an overview of what I think is enjoyable about the film, and why it’s worth seeing. This week, we’ll be looking at one of the most well-known Greek epic movies made: Troy.
It’s pretty rare to watch movies nearly two decades old, but I wanted a change of pace this time, so I give you Troy. Troy is an adaptation of Homer’s epic, and this movie feels epic (yes I’m aware those two epics mean something different.) With a great cast, led by Brad Pitt, it’s a well-acted intense rendition of Greek Mythology. The run time of 2 hours 43 minutes feels like not enough to tell this great tale. While the build up is articulate, it feels there could have been even more. Obviously you are limited in film, and nearly 3 hours is already pushing it for a lot of moviegoers, so this isn’t a criticism, rather, a vindication that this movie was not too long, and was appropriate for the story being told. As mentioned above, I thought Pitt was excellent as Achilles, and his presence was formidable. I was also impressed by Eric Bana’s performance as Hector. I knew very little about Bana before watching this movie a while back, but thought he was a good opposition to Achilles. While this did not win or get nominated for anything major, it’s still a really good movie for a sub-genre that at times is difficult to depict on the big screen, Troy certainly isn’t this genre’s Achilles heel.
Troy is currently available to be streamed on Netflix.
