‘300’ a wild, gory ride through battle 

By: Chris Fort
Contributing Writer

“300” is a testosterone-driven, cliché-riddled, action drama which blends the ancient Greek battles reminiscent of the movie “Troy” with the stylistic cinematography of Frank Miller’s last adapted novel, “Sin City.” The result is a film that you won’t find on many critics’ hot lists, but in the collection of every male’s movie shelf in the United States once it’s released on DVD.

Directed by relative newbie Zack Snyder, whose only work of note up to this point was the “Dawn of the Dead” remake, “300” is derived from the historic battle of Thermopylae which took place in 480 B.C. Loosely based on actual historical facts, the movie chronicles the quest of King Leonidas as he takes 300 of his best soldiers to the narrow mountain pass off the coast of Greece to confront the invading Persian army. The odds are heavily in the Persians’ favor as their king and chief general, Xerxes, portrayed by “Lost” star Rodrigo Santoro, boasts a force of almost one million men.

However, the Spartans are no ordinary men. They’ve been raised from the moment they were born to be cold-hearted warriors and as such, they easily dispose of ordinary Persian troops. Most of this movie is pure fighting as the Spartans take on every form of man and beast Xerxes has in his army, formed primarily of slaves from conquered societies.

Before seeing “300,” I had no idea that war could be so artsy. The slow motion action sequences and stunning visuals are a real treat to anyone longing for a different sort of cinematography. Watching this film is like watching a live action painting as Spartan soldiers scuffle with massive elephants and bomb-toting magicians against a beautiful, vanilla-colored background.

And that’s the problem right there. “300” feels too distant; its characters too mysterious because Snyder never gives us a real glimpse into their personalities. Leonidas, played by acting veteran Gerard Butler, is shown to be both brave and prideful. We don’t get much else though, and that’s this movie’s only downfall. The masterful plot layout, designed to thrill viewers with dazzling CGI effects and epic battle scenes, leaves little room for character development in the two-hour run time.

But in a film like this, who really cares? You’re not going to see this movie because the actors are so good they make Al Pacino look like Pauly Shore. You’re going to see this movie because you enjoy watching Leonidas slice and dice his way through 20 unfortunate Persians right before he impales a gargantuan rhinoceros and staves off yet another advance by the enemy. And that’s okay. Despite Snyder’s best attempts, his actors shine anyway and the story proceeds without a moment that makes you cringe from poor dialogue. “300” gives you everything a gore-starved moviegoer could want and more. Due to its terrific reception and ticket sales thus far, it’s only presumable that we’ll see more films like it very soon. And that’s definitely not a bad thing.