One Paragraph Review: Troy

I watched Troy over the weekend, my second time seeing it, and was reminded how adapting the story of the Trojan War is high on my list of things I would never want to attempt.The Iliad and the numerous other poems and texts that tell of The Trojan War relate a complex, high-fantasy story that the vast majority of the world would quickly lose interest in. You know, the same reasons you DIDN'T read it would make a truthful adaptation a tedious film. Jamming the parts that make a good movie into just ~2 hours is a ridiculous task, so it's not surprising that Troy doesn't bother with a lot of the fantasy and flavor in the original text. What Troy does do is brilliantly cast several key roles, give a sufficient overall view of the story, essentially leave out the role of the Gods all together, serve up some great action, be totally ambivalent about which side is "the good guys," provide small moments of brilliance and then go absolutely batshit Hollywood with the ending of the film. Despite it's flaws and taken liberties, Troy is enjoyable and entertaining. Sure, I'd have done several things differently, but I'd also probably have killed myself before this rubix-cube-from-hell of a film was actually finished, so I really can't complain.