Troy

Troy attempts to retell the first half of Homer's epic poem The Iliad in gory Gladiator style and, for the most part, succeeds handsomely. The Trojan War was fought for the love of a woman, the legendary beauty Helen, Queen of Sparta (played by Diane Kruger) who was seduced away from her much older husband Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson) by the impulsive Paris, Prince of Troy (Orlando Bloom). Here the aggrieved Greek forces demanding her return are lead by Brian Cox's Agamemnon, who numbers the near-invulnerable Achilles (a physically imposing if rather uncomfortable-looking Brad Pitt) among his allies. On the Trojan side, Eric Bana excels as noble Hector, the older brother of Paris. Having proven he can do claustrophobic chills with Das Boot, director Wolfgang Petersen shows tremendous command of the wide-open spaces of Troy, with the battle scenes being particularly stupendous. Purists may complain about the amount of dumbing down — the dialogue is occasionally more Hollywood corn than Greek tragedy — and the performances are uneven, but overall this is a visceral and exciting epic.

Handsome-looking but flawed epic Ð the battles lack excitement, the lovers are bland and the dialogue is often stilted Ð that works best on an intimate level.