300
Went to the matinee showing of 300 with Bri and Tony and ... eh. Didn't hate it, but it's definitely not a flick I'd watch again. I dig a good war epic as much as the next moviegoer, but I've seen this sort of story before, many many times, and done much better. I guess this is a war/action movie for the gamer generation, but I was still hoping for more. After a while, I went from vaguely awed to incredibly bored and just sat there waiting for the closing credits so I could go have a burger and a smoke.
Visually, it's breathtaking and does have the feel of a graphic novel in motion, and is quite a bit more striking than Sin City. More fight and battle sequences than you can shake a stick at, as expected -- loads of artfully glamorized decapitations, amputations, spiffy CGI monsters, a SHITLOAD of honorable deaths and blah blah biddy-blah cakes. Unfortunately, the action pretty much swallowed up whatever substance or plot there was to the story ... if there was any to begin with. Except for a few of the characters, I didn't really give a rat's ass about who died or survived or spent time worshipping at the feet of a self-deluded "god." The characters who do have a little substance to them aren't used nearly as much as they should have been (Lena Headey as Gerard Butler's queen was woefully underused, but she still kicks ass). You never really learn much about them to care one way or the other.
Regardless of how annoyed I was, Gerard Butler totally wins at life. He did a decent job with the material, I actually rooted for his character even though the outcome is more or less obvious, and I spent most of the movie staring at the washboard that is the man's stomach.
To quote my love-struck sis:
O__O ... I want to rub my face on it, yes I do!
Hee.
Dear Hollywood:
Please stop casting UK actors in Mediterranean roles. No matter how sexy their accents are. At least this is better than the time you cast Gerard Butler as Attila the fucking HUN. Sigh.