Troy
Troy
The historical story of one of the most recognized battles and events to ever take place. A war between two sides that would change everything and change everyone in most cultures and determine how everyone is going to use history in their lives for the better.
theLillyPad reviewedAugust 25, 2025
If one ignores the Epic Cycle that inspires it, Troy is a serviceable action flick with some weird decisions and poor dialogue.
When held up against the Iliad, the Aeneid, and the rest of the myths it is adapting, Troy is a disgrace--a Greek tragedy of epic proportions. Changes are made often and without cause, such as removing the gods from the story entirely, or heaping an entire HOUR onto the beginning of this (already too long) that adapts nothing from the original stories. You read that right--the first hour features literally nothing from the material being adapted.
The film's attempt to make Achilles a complicated hero comes across as confused and noncommittal, and keeping him alive past the Trojan Horse escapade gives him little to do but run around and pretend he's had an arc. This is overshadowed by the attempts to make Paris heroic at all, or to make the abduction of Hellen romantic. The way characters bend over backwards to justify the slaughter of Troy for their affair is wild.
The character of Menelaus, one of the few relatively innocent Greeks in the original story, is assassinated to this very end. The forced romance between Achilles and Briseis is equally off-putting.
The action is great, generally speaking, and fun to watch. The allusions to the Aeneid and the handling of Patrocles are nice, changes and all.
At the end of the day, though, I'd just say to read the book. I think dudes in particular will be surprised at how much they enjoy it.