Fantastic movie and great portrayal of the Battle of Thermopylae. Maybe not an absolute epic of a movie but terrific for its genre.

So - I finally went to see 300 in the cinema. I’ve had a dvd quality copy of it for a little while now but never watched it, something of this magnitude deserves to be watched on the big screen. So, that said, I paid my eight quid into the cinema, followed by a subsequent six-something for a coke and popcorn and sat down to enjoy 300 as directed by Zack Synder.

There’s two things I’ve to take into account before watching the movie - first off, I haven’t read Frank Miller’s graphic novel but would be familiar with his work through Sin City; second off, I watched the most recent episode of Southpark Season 11 which in a sense is a piss take of the movie, so knew what to expect out of some of the scenes (take the dodgy Southpark ones and flip them on their head for the cinematic experience). Novels and cartoons aside, 300 is a cracking film.

It has an extremely Gladiatorish feel to it, ironic really as Gladiator was on RTE when I walked in the door from the cinema, and parts of the movie (particularly those corn shots around the Queen) felt right out of Russel Crowe land but when you add in Frank Miller’s influence in dialog, character development, colour and motion you’ve got a great movie on your hands.

If you’re unfamiliar with it all, 300 is a retelling of the story of the Battle of Thermopylae where 300 of Sparta’s army lead by King Leonidas stood strong in the face of adversity from a marching Persian army thousands strong, holding off the Persians until betrayal lead to their ultimate demise (I can’t be spoiling this for you, if you’re aware of Greek history then you’ve an idea of how it will end anyway). All the while, the Queen works in Sparta to rise the support of the council to order the entire Spartan army out in support of Leonidas before all of Sparta burns and all of Greece falls.

The battle scenes take place over three days and combine elements of Sin City, Max Payne (game), The Matrix and enjoy all the privileges and sins that modern cinematography and CGI can afford them; fantastic slow-mo sequences, gorgeous 360-degree camera turns throughout the battle scenes really bring you close to the skill and awareness of the Spartan army while indulging you in big-screen violence in ways you’ve never seen it.

The colouring overall, an influence from Frank Miller’s original work, adds to the heightened cinematic sense and appeal of the movie. Deep rustic colours and tones, fantastic shading, harsh lighting, really great stuff to watch and soak up on the big screen.

The cast itself are quite strong and portray their respective roles without flaw. Gerard Butler makes for a great Leonidas. I hadn’t seen him on the screen since Phantom Of The Opera (yes, I’m a musicals fan too, but ‘Phantom has a great dark side to it) and I’ll likely give him a miss when he pops up in the adaptation of Cecilia Ahern’s ‘PS I Love You’ next year (just not into that kind of movie) but he’s most convincing as the pure hardy and cheeky bastard that King Leonidas is. Look out for his exchange in dialog with the Persian god Xerces when they first meet, he can be righty cocky when he wants to.

If you’re after some serious onscreen violence and greatly choreographed battle scenes then this film is for you. Almost from start to finish you’ve got fight after fight, arms flying off, legs flying off, heads rolling… the whole nine Spartan yards. I don’t think it will go down in history as an absolute epic of a movie (Gladiator does set a damn high bar) but I know I’ll certainly be buying it on DVD when it is released and won’t mind watching it again, and again, and again…

Rated 4/5 on Apr 19 2007 by Ken McGuire
Review Tags: 300, movie, sparts
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