they look really clunky, boring, unorganized

Considering that your average hoplite is a completely untrained amateur who screams in the rush to contact to overcome the fear inside him, 'clunky', 'boring', 'unorganized', and 'not as epic' seems perfectly fitting. More can always be said on the matter, especially from anyone else with a different model of how combat might go. For the meantime, the following previous posts may be of interest to you:

• u/Iphikrates and u/Rittermeister note how it went for the Greeks and the Medievals
• Iphikrates also goes further into the 'pulse theory' of combat;
• and so does u/Hergrim (with a bit more Iphikrates) in this post asking about rioters versus police.
• and more Hergrim on the dimensions of combat.