It’s pointless to condemn the film for being historically inaccurate and controversial in its portrayals of the political and military actions of Sparta and Persia. Only Butler’s booming voice could make a line like “Tonight we dine in hell!” sound inspirational. Every speech by Leonidas is one of shouting and intensity, delivered as though he were a wrestler making a declaration. Every shot is staged artificially to nail the comic book setting, as with the most memorable shot of the Spartans shoving enemy soldiers off a cliff. The violence is brutal and bloody, showcased in slow shots straight out of The Matrix to appreciate all that gooey CGI blood and gore. How else are you supposed to intimidate your enemy with your beefy muscles? Everything in this film must be made big! The 300 Spartans wage war most humongous, building towering walls of corpses for cover and defending themselves from enough arrows to blot out the sun. Leonidas sets off for a war with Persia, his men donning shields and spears. Before this, however, he must draw his sword and declare the film’s most iconic line when the messenger calls this action madness: “Madness? THIS IS SPARTA!” Forget Sparta this whole world is mad. When a Persian messenger comes to give the word that the Spartans must pay tribute to King Xerxes, Leonidas doesn’t just refuse he provides a forceful kick to send him down a well. Everything he does must be extreme, as though he were acting in a Mountain Dew commercial at all times. King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) leads his Spartan empire with a mighty roar, boldly red cape and pecs always present. Spartans would traditionally wear bulky armor to protect themselves, but maybe those rock-hard abs are as strong as metal.Ĭredit should be given to director Zack Snyder for nailing the machismo and over-the-top nature of Frank Miller’s material, even if it all comes as goofy and overblown. ![]() And I can’t forget those laughably buff and greased-up muscles, always showcased in battle. The muddy palette of foreboding skies and darkly lit battlefields was probably intended to look gritty but comes off more like a vibrant depiction of a cloudy Sunday in August. There are massive armies of seemingly endless soldiers, far more than I doubt any kingdom would be able to manage for a single battle. Based on Frank Miller’s overblown depiction of The 300 Spartans, this film is a visual feast of farce. While Sin City used a CGI-created world to amplify the grit and bite of classic noir, 300 uses that same technology to turn a Greek war epic into a pro-wrestling cartoon.
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