Movie Reviews - new films reviewed

300 is the film adaptation of the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller – which is based on the historic Battle of Thermopylae and the 1962 movie The 300 Spartans. The story is simple: 300 Spartan warriors, led by king Leonidas (Gerard Butler) try to defend Sparta against the armies of Persian king Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and have their last stand at the pass of Thermpylae, where they fight to the last man.
Much fuss has been made about 300 being racist and fascistic because of the depiction of the Spartans as a strong and superior race and the Persians as decadent, weak and perverted. But neither the graphic novel nor the film are by all means a historical documentation of the battle – and don’t pretend to be. First priority is not historical accuracy, but a cool look. And looking good 300 does – six-packed Spartans warriors wearing red capes blowing in the wind, monstrous creatures (stylishly exaggerated wolves, rhinos and elephants), splashes of blood, beautiful women (Lena Headey as Queen Gorgo and Kelly Craig as the Oracle), barbaric enemies, impressive armor and weapons.
But if there was ever style above substance, in 300 this formula is carried to an extreme – the plot is so thin it’s almost non-existent, and the little bit of dialogue or attempts at character development are ranging from pathos to pathetic.
Can you stand two hours of good-looking hacking and slashing without getting bored and did you like the visual style of Sin City? Then enjoy the ride.

Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,
that here, obedient to their laws, we lie

300 Trailer

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 10th, 2007 at 10:03 am and is filed under 3-star-movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.