Troy

This filmed surprised me with its pacing, for a film that's longer than Gladiator, it felt much more brisk and economical.

Brad Pitt took a bit getting used to as Achilles, but as the film progressed, I settled into his take on the character. Orlando Bloom and newcomer Diana Kruger were outclassed in the acting department by the rest of the cast who were overall pretty good, even newcomer Rose Byrne. I admit to wondering how green Eric Bana would get when he showed anger. Heh.

Watching an interpretation of Homer's "The Iliad" with a big budget was pretty cool, even though the screenplay played loose with the timeline, compressing it to keep up the dramatic tension. Is the film short on character development? Maybe, not distractingly so. Enough of the different angles by which the participants in the drama/war were presented to understand the motivations (though a couple were hammered home a few times too many).

Otherwise, an entertaining enough film to sit through at the theaters, especially with a running time over 2.5 hours.

I give it 3 stars, or a grade of B.