This is exactly the kind of movie I've been waiting for so long. Drop dead cinematography, slow-motion galore. Sweeping camera panning, low shots, epicness. This is the most beautiful epic movie to watch. The CGI crew have done extremely well on the backgrounds, they scream like paintings to life. When the Oscars come up, if anything this movie should get Best Visual Effects easily by a mile. Every shot of this movie is perfection.
(THIS IS NOT A REVIEW, JUST MY THOUGHTS ON IT)
We start with the culture of Spartans, where a baby is being held over a cliff, overseeing dozens of skeletons possibly deserted babies. The cruel culture of Spartans is shown, and while fascistic, it is necessary if you're to be in war. These Spartans live and breath battle; it's their life. The action scenes are brilliantly directed, with the best use of slow-motion to date. Every stab, hit, slice of a sword, impalement, is focused on. The best scene is where one of the main soldiers has a solo brawl against maybe ten Persians, it's a dance in motion. The blood is graphic and stylish, and sexy. You'll be going "ooh" and "aah" whenever some sorry Persian is speared right through. This is a man's movie, just violence and gore, and it's f'n awesome.
The rest of the movie has some politics, as the queen must decide how to deal with Sparta, while pathetic bureaucrats and lawmakers, and how to maintain the greatness of the Spartans gone to war. The actress is very good, and true to Spartan culture, she's a strong woman. It's satisfying when she gets her revenge on one very pesty antagonist, and revealing his treachery. But the movie doesn't bogged down as much into this, which is good, because frankly it's boring. It's not a detractor, but feels like padding compared to the rest of the action going on.
As an action movie freak, and also a fan of war strategy, Spartans are on true form here. The strategy of squeezing the Persian army through a narrow valley where numbers won't matter is iconic. Building a wall of rocks and humiliating Xerces by piling on Persian dead bodies is fitting. Nature also helps them in a highly important way, by crashing and sinking many Persian ships. Another great strategy is when the Spartans use the wall of dead bodies to pile on the Immortals. Spartans fight against 3 armies: the first are the normal Persians; then come the Chinese, or I think so because they use bombs as weapons; and then these ninja-like Immortals. The Spartans do indeed "put their name to the test". And then finally, there are the monsters. Elephants, a surprisingly instinctive Troll, a gigantic rhino, and an extremely grotesque, fat butcher with saws for arms. The fantasy aspect is an intriguing addition to an otherwise true event, and was probably heightened due to Miller and it being a comic book. It adds more mythology and mystery to the movie, rather than just built-up warriors battling it out against mortal persian soldiers. It adds some variety into the thick of battle. The violence aspect is done very stylistic, and is very unflinching when you see a headless man drop to the floor, sadly that of a very strong son Spartan.
The dialogue is another part of this movie. There's much less quantity in dialogue, and what there is, is delivered for dramatic effect. Sometimes this kinda falls flat, other times it's excelled by mostly King Leonidas. Leonidas' words are almost poetic, memorable and chosen well, all credit goes to Frank Miller. Again, whenever the movie shifts back to the sunny side of Sparta city, the dialogue here seems forcably Thespian and too dramatic. I'm not asking for modern English, but it could've been contextualised better by the screenwriters.
The acting is top-notch. It's quite obvious every single actor is British, and reasonably so. After all, most Roman dramas use English actors, so why not Greek. The dialogue and the acting from the Spartans is very theatrical, something you'd find in a play rather than in a movie. It plays well to the time that the true story is set in, and realistically speaking, it couldn't have been better. Gerald Butler is phenomenal as the King Leonidas, he's the major reason you should see this movie. The rest of the crew do a fine job, even the absolutely hateful antagonist council member. Another soldier is brilliant, who is Stelios. Stelios and Astinos (son of Captain) make a fine fighting duo, giving some comic relief. "You fight well...for a woman." He's the war-hungry, energetic guy who likes to "jump" a lot, which results in 2 fantastic scenes as he assaults the bullwhip messenger and a Persian commander.
One great scene of acting by someone other than Leonidas, is the battle-worn Captain who has a son Spartan. When his son meets an untimely headless end, it's very heart-breaking, and the actor gives a poignant performance in that one scene. The narrator, Dilios, is a character that I have to mention. His voice is perfect to explain as how the movie goes on. And then you realise he's actually a Spartan, thus he is detailing the events that transpired during this 3 day war.
There are some awkward moments in the film. The first of which is the Oracle. I have an idea of why the Oracle danced like that to the flow of swirling smoke, but she looks very dumb dancing like that. The only reason I can see is that she might be synchronising with the flow of time, and destiny, and that all that smoke was like the future? I don't know, but it's just that one scene that bugged me. Another scene that bugged me is, how did Leonidas get that apple?! I didn't see any trees nearby, it's just funny and weird. The only other thing that detracted was when shifting away from the war and to Queen Gorgo. The pacing slowed down, and I didn't want it to. I wanted more of the battle. Slower pacing was used when the Spartans took a break, which was done well. However, using slower pacing in the form of shifting away from the war was a bit disappointing. One major aspect of the movie that disappointed me was the score. It sounded too much like Gladiator in some spots, with straight rips like an opera-like woman howling. Near the final where Dilios sends the message to the Queen in those lush, corn meadows felt too similar to Gladiator's ending. Nonetheless, the score had some fantastic parts like when the King is ready to surrender to Xerces, with the rest of his Spartans burrowed under the phalanx formation. And in one part where there was some slight rock music was great, which shows rock music can be used for epic period war movies, mostly enhanced if effects are being used with guitars and drums.
Another frankly weird part is when Xerces is massaging Leonidas' shoulders o_O
But these are minor faults, and they don't detract too much from the overall impact of the film, and that is the 300's last stand against the Persian Empire.
It's a fantastic movie, the most epic movie ever. With an unmissable credit sequence, and most of the emotional scenes being about the war, it's only moving when Leonidas has to make the decision whether to surrender. This is really the only time the movie has an emotional impact, when what's going through your mind, is Leonidas can't do this. It's the best moment of the film. As the narrator clues us into what Leonidas is feeling, about how cramped his helmet is, or how heavy the shield hangs on his shoulder. It's all so poetic and elegant. The cinematography is so excellent in directing Dilios' words. Another recent movie that used cinematography to tell a story was Pan's Labyrinth, where I've previously mentioned about that fantasy thorny mountain scene in which you hear poetic words. It engrosses you into Leonidas' character that much more, and with the close-ups, you can't help but be imagining yourself in his place. He's thinking about the future of Sparta, his loved ones, and most importantly killing this SOB of a Xerces. Xerces is decidedly camp in his costume, and sometimes it can be distracting when I'm focusing on Spartans and his' cod pieces instead of the whole picture . But the costume design is amazing; it's brash and don't look like just movie props. A magnificent shot is when Leonidas and the rest of the 300 are defeated, but then he rises in honour to accept a sea of arrows heading towards him. I went "whoah!" at this moment, and was pleased, if slightly disturbed when he was shown again with the result of many arrows impaled into him and the rest of his "children". It was a soothing moment, which The movie has a very sad ending, but then you realise it hasn't ended, and then the happiest ending comes. The most epic shot of the whole film, as you see literally thousands of Spartans, and other soldiers being commanded by Dilios, the eye-patched narrator. It's a moving moment, and a brilliant way to end the film. Oh, and do not miss end sequence. It's to die for, seeing like a 3D version of a comic book, through clever use of silhouettes straight from the film, and loads of stylistic blood splattered across the screen. Dare I say, best ending sequence next to Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events?
After a month of fasting and self-control, it's awesome to celebrate and learn from the Ramadhan month. I had some Choc Curl doughnuts!
