"300" walks the walk. If you take all of the fight scenes from "Gladiator", the crazy creatures from the "Lord of the Rings" movies, the digital atmosphere of "Sin City", and every single major war scene of every ancient war movie, here you have "300". It's euphorically gory filled with machismo and an ultra livid attitude that puts any death-metal-infused-mature-rated video game to shame. What I'm trying to say is that this movie is locked, cocked and ready to rock. It's the complete movie package.
"300" is not your average sword and sandal movie. It's an epic of the Greek Spartans filled with no name actors who give A-list performances and have bods that can fry eggs and bacon on them. It has fetishistic-disgustingly pierced demagogues, half Gollum/half Quasimodo creatures, and tons of machetes chopping off heads. Director Zach Snyder made "300" just like Robert Rodriguez made "Sin City," by filming the cast in front of a blue screen and filling in all of the mutated rhinos and elephants later. Snyder also knows how to handle all of the violence after making his other movie, "Dawn of the Dead".
"300" tells the story of the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. The "300" stands for the 300 overly shorthanded Spartan warriors led by their king, Leonidas (Gerard Butler) who try their hardest to stop the massive Persian army from taking over their land, women, children and complete existence. These guys are the superior breed and from beginning to end, show no mercy. The story was originally commercialized and made public in 1998 as a serial comic by "Sin City" author, Frank Miller.
"300" is more of a superhero movie than an ancient Greek war film like the flop, "Troy". It has the aesthetic and genuine feel as a comic book. The movie features sudden spasms of fast and slow scenes, 360-degree fight montages, and almost 3-D like blood spurts that you want to reach out and touch. It's gritty, it's cruel, and yet, it's beautiful. There are many scenes that show a vulnerable side to the Spartan life and the relationship between King Leonidas and his wife for the folks who want to give their hearts a quick relaxation period.
Every one of the "300" has the brains, the heart, the guts, and the nuts to fight, and for two hours, you truly believe that you are one of them.
I give "300" 5 out of 5 Roses.
Reach the reporter at: monis.rose@asu.edu.
