300 (2007)
The Cast
Gerard Butler ... King Leonidas
Lena Headey ... Queen Gorgo
Dominic West ... Theron
David Wenham ... Dilios
Vincent Regan ... Captain
Michael Fassbender ... Stelios
Tom Wisdom ... Astinos
Andrew Pleavin ... Daxos
Andrew Tiernan ... Ephialtes
Rodrigo Santoro ... Xerxes
Kelly Craig ... Oracle Girl
First of all, let me state that I have no knowledge whatsoever about any epic battles throughout anytime in history. There's some World War I and II stuff that somehow manages to stick in my head, and if you ask me almost anything about the WWF/E for the past 20 years, I'm sure I could go on and on. I know absolutely nothing about the Battle of Thermopylae, which took place in 480 BC, nor did I see The 300 Spartans which was a retelling of that battle, nor did I read Frank Miller's graphic novel 300 which was inspired by The 300 Spartans and upon which this film is shot-for-shot based off of. I have to say that for a big screen kickass action movie, it makes a good comic book. It does not inspire any confidence in me for director Zack Snyder's supposed upcoming Watchmen adaptation.
King Leonidas (Butler) is the ruler of Sparta, a city in southern Greece that developed a reputation for breeding fierce warriors through strict military training from the age of seven onward. At some point the Persian King / God Xerxes (Santoro) sends messengers to Sparta, demanding the country submit to the will of Xerxes. Leonidas takes great offense to this and literally kicks the movie into gear by booting the messenger into a pit that just happened to be nearby. Leonidas is aware that he has pretty much started a war with Persia, and so goes to the Oracle priests to ask for their blessing in repelling the Persians. However those priests were already bribed by Xerxes and so on and whatever, Leonidas ignores them and goes to battle anyways. With 300 soldiers, hence the title of the movie.
Now I could sit here and go through the cast list and the characters list and the only reason I'd know who they were is because I watch a lot of fucking movies. Also, Lena Headey is pretty much the only woman in the cast (and will soon be seen as Sarah Connor in The Sarah Connor Chronicles) so that one was easy. There's about as much character development in this movie as there is in a Bazooka Joe comic strip. You can have all the decapitated heads and amputated limbs and spraying blood in the world, but if the characters don't grow, I get weary and restless and bored.
300 certainly is a visual spectacle, a visceral treat for the eyes shot in much the same style as Sin City was. It's eye-catching and really quite amazing to look at, but it's all just flashy violence that covers up the emptiness of the whole picture. Look at all the digital blood that sprays throughout every slowed-down-sped-up battle scene. Sure there's a lot of blood flying through the air, but there's absolutely no substance to it. It has no weight and when it lands, it doesn't collect, it's just another differently coloured digital pixel.
People can go on and on about whether or not the film is an allegory for the war in Iraq or whatever politically charged discussion they want to get into, I don't care. They should find a film that is actually interesting and entertaining and inspires more than bloodlust in people to sit down and have a discussion about. This is the flashiest "epic" movie I think I've ever watched and there's almost nothing to it. It's a puff of air, and no matter how much digital treatment you give it, that doesn't affect the human aspect of it at all. It might just well be 100% faithful to Frank Miller's graphic novel, but that doesn't mean I should forgive it for being a movie of lesser quality.
2.5 / 5