Difference in Opinion

300

Released 2006

Rated R for graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity.

Cast: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Rodrigo Santoro, Dominic West

Rating: 8 out of 10

Runtime: 2 Hrs. 5 Mins.

Favorite Quotes: “Immortals… we put their name to the test.” “We did what we were trained to do, what we were bred to do, what we were born to do.” “This is where we fight! This is where they die!”

Summary (from IMDB): Based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel, “300″ concerns the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae, where the King of Sparta led his army against the advancing Persians; the battle is said to have inspired all of Greece to band together against the Persians, and helped usher in the world’s first democracy.

When I heard that they were making this movie, I got very excited. I had read the graphic novel about a year before, so I had very high hopes.

-The action is amazing. It is very stylized and interesting to watch. Whoever did the fight choreography is amazing.
-The storyline that follows the queen is acted very well. All of the characters of this section were well rounded and believable. Lena Headey (Queen Gorgo) is fantastic. She is beautiful at one moment and completely intimidating at the next.
-Dominic West (Theron) plays a great bastard. You hate him from beginning to end.
-Every interaction between Xerxes and Leonidas is enthralling. Butler and Santoro have great chemistry on screen.

-Vincent Regan (Captain) is great. I think his performance is overlooked. The scene where he breaks off from the rest of the group because he is “blood-drunk” is heartbreaking.
-The costuming, though sparce, is great. The queen has some of the hottest clothes I have ever seen.
-After watching it, I feel like I need to work out. I mean, look at this:

Having said all of that, here are some of the problems that I had.
-Some of the acting is cheesy. This mostly comes from the Spartan soldiers. The characters of Astinos and Stelios come to mind.
-The CG blood was a cool effect, but I think that they did a little too much. It almost became distracting.
-I am still confused how David Wenham’s character looses his eye. In one scene it is there and in the next it is gone.
-When the Senate starts yelling ,”Traitor! Traitor!” I almost started laughing. That part was not done well. Just how frantic they all become is hilarious.
-Some characters didn’t seem to fit (the random Persian thing that is beheading the Persian captains, the monster with the Immortals and the random goat looking thing playing a sitar). It seems like those characters were just put in to either show how different the Persians were or just because they looked cool. This comment is more focused to Frank Miller since all the characters were made and put in the graphic novel by him.

All in all, this is a great action flick with a nice side-story to it. Don’t watch it if you are expecting something historically accurate, because it isn’t. It gets the basic facts, but makes the story its own.