Sunday, June 13, 2004
Troy
We went to see Troy yesterday and it turned out rather better than I expected, given the lukewarm critical response. I admit: I feel about Brad Pitt the way most people seem to feel about Tom Cruise, but his portrayal of Achilles was very good; he's quite unlikable at first, but by the end you feel for him. Indeed, everything was quite good, especially some of the acting; Julie didn't like the movie as much as I did, saying there was "too much posing", but she thought Peter O'Toole made the movie, and I agree he did a terrific job.
I have two complaints about the film: The music was bombastic and annoying, especially the dirge (don't recall if it was intended as such) over the end credits, and the wide variety of English accents (American, British, vaguely European) occasionally threw me. But these are nitpicks; I definitely recommend the film.
(Another nitpick is that while the CGI was mostly seamless, I do recall one scene [a "crane shot" of thousands of soldiers walking over the beach] that looked fakey—after a few seconds, I realized that there didn't seem to be appropriate shadows. Maybe it was supposed to be taking place at noon.)
One complaint about the venue: A kid sitting behind (and to the left) of us seemed to have an attention deficit; he would periodically stamp on the floor or make plucking noises with his mouth. It wasn't loud enough to ruin the movie, but it did ruin my ability to concentrate in some spots.
(See also Orson Scott Card's review of the film. Alas, it seems as if the film didn't make much money, so they're unlikely to return to the story; I would love to see the same team tackle the Odyssey, especially given who they cast as Odysseus here ;-).
I have two complaints about the film: The music was bombastic and annoying, especially the dirge (don't recall if it was intended as such) over the end credits, and the wide variety of English accents (American, British, vaguely European) occasionally threw me. But these are nitpicks; I definitely recommend the film.
(Another nitpick is that while the CGI was mostly seamless, I do recall one scene [a "crane shot" of thousands of soldiers walking over the beach] that looked fakey—after a few seconds, I realized that there didn't seem to be appropriate shadows. Maybe it was supposed to be taking place at noon.)
One complaint about the venue: A kid sitting behind (and to the left) of us seemed to have an attention deficit; he would periodically stamp on the floor or make plucking noises with his mouth. It wasn't loud enough to ruin the movie, but it did ruin my ability to concentrate in some spots.
(See also Orson Scott Card's review of the film. Alas, it seems as if the film didn't make much money, so they're unlikely to return to the story; I would love to see the same team tackle the Odyssey, especially given who they cast as Odysseus here ;-).
