Homer chronicled the Trojan War in his epic poem the Iliad. Wolfgang Petersen chronicles the Trojan War in his epic film Troy. Everything about this movie is big; huge sets, huge battle scenes and a huge hero by the name of Achilles, embodied by Brad Pitt.

I've never been a huge Pitt fan. I don't dislike him, I can pretty much take him or leave him. Since he hasn't had a lead role since Seven, I was curious about whether he could carry such a large movie. But he does a surprisingly good job. Intense, brave (and deliciously buff!) yet capable of being compassionate Brad Pitt nails the demigod warrior. And his supporting cast is equally good especially Eric Bana as Hector (you might remember him from last year's Hulk but probably not since almost nobody saw that movie) and Peter O'Toole as King Priam.

Paris (Orlando Bloom) starts all of this mess when he falls in love with the beautiful Helen (Diane Krueger). The only thing standing in the way of their true love is her husband, King Menelaus. When Helen leaves the loutish Menelaus (Brenden Gleeson) for Paris all Hades breaks  loose. Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon (Brian Cox) decide to go to war against Troy, the city known for its inpenetratable wall (which is probably why a certain company named it's product after it). So both sides prepare for war. On the Trojan side, there is Prince Paris and his warrior brother Hector (Eric Bana) and their father King Priam (Peter O'Toole). On the Greek side, there's Agamemnon, Odysseus (Sean Bean), Menelaus and the greatest warrior of all Achilles.

The Trojan War has always been told a part history and part myth. Petersen and writer David Benioff get rid of most of the myth and tell it as a straight historical epic. It's too bad really because the myth, I think, adds to the story. The myth explains the attraction between Paris and Helen, why Achilles is so invincible and the one thing that can kill him. The ending would have made a little more sense to those not familiar with the story, if some of the myth had stayed in place. Instead there is a lot of talk about appeasing the Greek gods but no real indication of their real roles in the story.

Although it's the love between Paris and Helen that start it, their love story isn't the focus of Troy. Troy chooses instead to focus on the men at the center of the battle and what motivates them. it becomes in an odd way, a love story of sorts for each man truly does fight for love. For Achilles, it's love of glory. For Paris, its the love of Helen. For Hector it's the love of honor and doing what is right. For King Priam, it's love of Troy and for King Agamemnon, it's love of power.

The Iliad is a long poem and Troy is a long movie. There are lots of good fight scenes Petersen shows the awesome size of the legions of ships and soldiers but where these battle scenes excel is when Petersen goes from the large spectacle to the intimate violence of hand-to-hand combat. 

While not a perfect movie, Troy is a good one.