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First of all, I have seen the man I'm going to marry: Vincent Regan, who plays Eudorus. He's married, I've learned, but his wife is into directors, so I'm going to need someone to distract her while I switch Kenneth Brannaugh for Vincent. I'll also need Kenneth Brannaugh.
With that said, everything about Troy is BIG. The scale is BIG. The cast is BIG. B-Pitty is HUGE. Unfortunately, bigger doesn't always mean better. The things that work best are the less-touted, more medium-sized performances, mainly Eric Bana's Hector, Rose
Bryne's Brisius and Peter O'Toole's Priam. And the small performances were noticibly lacking direction. It's the little things, no matter how big the scale of the piece, that can undermine the project. Something like an extra grabbing two horses' bridles in the middle of an attack and then just standing there, waiting to hear "cut" is not cool in the middle of a film that aspires to greatness.
None of that is as big a problem as the miscasting of Pitt as Achilles. He has his moments with it. He just wasn't right for it and I'm still trying to figure out why. Oh, I know: because despite the enormous arms he grew for this, they've colored him like a girly-man. Petal pink lips and yellow hair and blue eyes... and bloodlust. It didn't come together. He didn't make it come together. Klaus Kinski he's not. By contrast, Bana's Hector is relatable, human, vulnerable at times, varied. It may even be a planned contrast that Achilles be more superficial, but Pitt's performance pays a high price if that was the idea.
The biggest problem I had though was with the direction. Peterson went back to theatrical roots in the staging of some of this, most notably the political discussions, but he should have revisited Basic Directing for a refresher on beats. There's supposed to be a build to every scene, and too many important moments are just barrelled through, making everything seem pre-ordained. It doesn't make for compelling storytelling.
Pitt wasn't the only odd casting choice. Of an array of principals, very few looked at all Greek. Hector's wife was so thin he risked lacerations just being within 2 feet of her... hardly the greek ideal. Helen, while certainly pretty, didn't seem terribly interesting. I did like that she and Bloom shared a bit of a resemblance, underlining their vanity and narcisism.
On the up side, the love scene with Pitt and Bryce was hott! The battles were good. The two-man combat scenes were positively excellent. Those jumps Pitt did were highly impressive. Not a lot of people can get that much air while toting a big sword! The stunts and fx were excellent. I very much enjoyed the Tumbleweeds of Doom. Kudos to the costumer, especially the footwear, and to the jewelry maker. I don't know what the makeup person was up to though, with all that eyeliner on everyone. We weren't in Egypt, for crying out loud!
All in all, there were some strong points, but this whole affair needed a bit more work. It could have been much improved, but it's not a painful way to spend three hours and it did introduce me to my sweet Vincent. Seriously, anybody know him or know anyone who knows him? Hook a sister up.
With that said, everything about Troy is BIG. The scale is BIG. The cast is BIG. B-Pitty is HUGE. Unfortunately, bigger doesn't always mean better. The things that work best are the less-touted, more medium-sized performances, mainly Eric Bana's Hector, Rose
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None of that is as big a problem as the miscasting of Pitt as Achilles. He has his moments with it. He just wasn't right for it and I'm still trying to figure out why. Oh, I know: because despite the enormous arms he grew for this, they've colored him like a girly-man. Petal pink lips and yellow hair and blue eyes... and bloodlust. It didn't come together. He didn't make it come together. Klaus Kinski he's not. By contrast, Bana's Hector is relatable, human, vulnerable at times, varied. It may even be a planned contrast that Achilles be more superficial, but Pitt's performance pays a high price if that was the idea.
|
The biggest problem I had though was with the direction. Peterson went back to theatrical roots in the staging of some of this, most notably the political discussions, but he should have revisited Basic Directing for a refresher on beats. There's supposed to be a build to every scene, and too many important moments are just barrelled through, making everything seem pre-ordained. It doesn't make for compelling storytelling.
Pitt wasn't the only odd casting choice. Of an array of principals, very few looked at all Greek. Hector's wife was so thin he risked lacerations just being within 2 feet of her... hardly the greek ideal. Helen, while certainly pretty, didn't seem terribly interesting. I did like that she and Bloom shared a bit of a resemblance, underlining their vanity and narcisism.
On the up side, the love scene with Pitt and Bryce was hott! The battles were good. The two-man combat scenes were positively excellent. Those jumps Pitt did were highly impressive. Not a lot of people can get that much air while toting a big sword! The stunts and fx were excellent. I very much enjoyed the Tumbleweeds of Doom. Kudos to the costumer, especially the footwear, and to the jewelry maker. I don't know what the makeup person was up to though, with all that eyeliner on everyone. We weren't in Egypt, for crying out loud!
All in all, there were some strong points, but this whole affair needed a bit more work. It could have been much improved, but it's not a painful way to spend three hours and it did introduce me to my sweet Vincent. Seriously, anybody know him or know anyone who knows him? Hook a sister up.