300 (B or 3/4 stars)
Based on the ancient battle of Thermopylae, directed by Zack Snyder, & based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, '300' tells the story of King Leonidas (Gerard Butler), his 300 Spartans, & King Xerxes' (Rodrigo Santoro) Persian army. 300 vs. hundreds of thousands. Insurmountable odds, yes. But a defeat was not the point. The point was to go down fighting & allow the homebound Spartans time to build a significant army to take down the Persians in the future. Nothing wowed or surprised me, but this film is a case of 'you either liked it or you didn't'. Oddly, I really liked most of what I saw.
An alliance of several Greek city-states, thespians, slaves, and the like, gathered at Thermopylae's mountain pass to prevent the eclectic Persians from impeding their lands. Leonidas knew that this would be a suicide mission, of sorts. But for three long days, the 300 Spartans were able to battle and kill thousands of Persians at will. Things weren't made any easier for the Spartans for the fact that a disfigured shepherd, Ephialtes, defects to the Persians to inform Xerxes of Thermopylae's pass. Outnumbered and hopeless, the Spartans fought ferociously for honor, glory, & democracy; quite the inspiration for all Greeks.
To say this film is gory is an understatement; gory by way of severed limbs & computer-generated blood. If you can handle this, you'll probably enjoy the movie in all its violent splendor. There's so much to take-in as you watch. If you're in the mood for decapitations, spraying blood, chiseled abs, pulsating biceps, female nipples, & soft-core porn, then this film offers a guilty pleasure for you. Yes, I really did just type that. Technically, this is a movie-as-a-comic-book; it thrives just as such (not unlike Sin City). Whether you had fun watching it or would rather watch a more formal interpretation on the history channel is another question.
This film is hyper-stylized. Depictions of Gods & monsters are a flurry in this cinematic version. It's not a film you'd naturally enjoy from the get-go because while all the unique CGI-effects are at full-throttle, the performances are played very straightforward & conventional. So two opposing forces are working at the same time. Once you get a hang of things, the subsequent viewing of the film becomes easier. Lena Headley, David Wenham, Michael Fassbender & Dominic West are fine; the acting is more than acceptable. But no one came to this film to witness fine acting, or even care about the story. Women & men of all ages can't resist the visual feast that is '300'; and many clapped at the end credits. I throw up my hands ... I liked it; so be it. This will become a cult classic for the ages.
An alliance of several Greek city-states, thespians, slaves, and the like, gathered at Thermopylae's mountain pass to prevent the eclectic Persians from impeding their lands. Leonidas knew that this would be a suicide mission, of sorts. But for three long days, the 300 Spartans were able to battle and kill thousands of Persians at will. Things weren't made any easier for the Spartans for the fact that a disfigured shepherd, Ephialtes, defects to the Persians to inform Xerxes of Thermopylae's pass. Outnumbered and hopeless, the Spartans fought ferociously for honor, glory, & democracy; quite the inspiration for all Greeks.
To say this film is gory is an understatement; gory by way of severed limbs & computer-generated blood. If you can handle this, you'll probably enjoy the movie in all its violent splendor. There's so much to take-in as you watch. If you're in the mood for decapitations, spraying blood, chiseled abs, pulsating biceps, female nipples, & soft-core porn, then this film offers a guilty pleasure for you. Yes, I really did just type that. Technically, this is a movie-as-a-comic-book; it thrives just as such (not unlike Sin City). Whether you had fun watching it or would rather watch a more formal interpretation on the history channel is another question.
This film is hyper-stylized. Depictions of Gods & monsters are a flurry in this cinematic version. It's not a film you'd naturally enjoy from the get-go because while all the unique CGI-effects are at full-throttle, the performances are played very straightforward & conventional. So two opposing forces are working at the same time. Once you get a hang of things, the subsequent viewing of the film becomes easier. Lena Headley, David Wenham, Michael Fassbender & Dominic West are fine; the acting is more than acceptable. But no one came to this film to witness fine acting, or even care about the story. Women & men of all ages can't resist the visual feast that is '300'; and many clapped at the end credits. I throw up my hands ... I liked it; so be it. This will become a cult classic for the ages.