Hollywood definitely has a soft corner for War flicks, especially those with guys in skirts ( Brave Heart, The Patriot, Scorpion King and of course Troy). The formula has come down to this -
-> spend enough money on the sets and costume
-> glorify central character
-> involve a good looking royalty memsaahab with No2
-> Have a monotonous symphony type soundtrack for the movie for all the dying-gory scenes
Why would one talk ill about a movie that is the costliest movie made till date ? Why won’t a graphically enhanced attack by over 50, 000 soldiers be impressive ? Wasn’t Brad Pitt fantastic as Achilles ?
Because that doesn’t make a movie a classic...
I again come back to the hackeneyed example of the Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. This movie didnt lack anything. It had the stars, the songs, the sensual ooze and all the masala one expected from a ’’family film’’ ( I hate that term). But why does it irritate whenever someone praises it to the skies ? Because Karan Johar, and this time the Troy-maker is shamelessly taking praise for adding gloss to an existing formula and stuffing it back onto the screen.
Why was ’’Spiderman’’ a hit ? Because the director decided to show Peter Parker as a human being, rather than a six-pack whitewashed fighting machine. What happened to the clones that came up after that - Phantom, Kate Beckinsale....Most of them sank. So why a isspecial treatment for cutie Brad Pitt ?
What if the next director picked an even bigger plot (like the ’War that lasted a 100 years’ ), showcased a million soldiers, and picked even prettier males and females for the lead roles....
Would you lump it all again and call it a masterpiece ?