300 review
Yesterday I saw the movie “300“, the film adaptation of the 300 comic by Frank Miller. My thoughts on a movie the first week after having seen it might seem a bit glowing, so take this with a grain of salt.
Having seen some of the worse reviews in the US and today in my local newspaper (STN) and having seen it live - in digital form - I can still only believe that most (or at least some) reviewers just didn’t understand the movie…
The movie is a recreation of the Battle of Thermopylae in ancient greece. Being threatened by the persians with war, death, destruction and slavery, Leonidas and 300 of his best men battle the huge, massive persian army at a narrow cliff.
And that’s about everything you need to know (and will know after watching the movie) about the plot. This movie is minimalistic in many parts of the filmmaking process. There is no complex, twining storyline. There is no amazing dialog (at least, I’ve heard better), not the best acting ever. This movie is about these 4 things, and nothing more, nothing less: Perfect visual beauty of each scene, stylish fights, glory/fame/courage, an awesome combination of stunning visuals and music. Everybody who tries to get more out of it will fail.
The movie has the surreal, almost dirty look of Sin City. Some have mentioned that the rouge on the Spartans’ sixpacks was a bit too much, and overdid it, but I disagree. I have only seen this movie once, but the exploding imagery that “pushes you into your seat” (as a friend put it) is nothing short of genius.
Fighting is a Spartan’s life, and it’s the movie’s life. About 50% of the time the screen is filled with gory, fast-paced, stylized-till-death fight scenes. Yet they are not at all brutal or blunt - Pan’s Labyrinth was much worse in that area. But don’t be confused: 300 is a positive show of violence.
As stated, the film’s few plot themes are mostly about glory, fame, courage, defending one’s freedom, country, children and wives. I’m a very critical person about such themes (as everyone should be), because they are not good per se. But there has always been something about those ideas that appealed to me, that touched me, that sends a chill down my spine. Those feelings also get quite a bit of screen time in Lord of the Rings, together with friendship (replaced in 300 with fighting side by side).
While we’re at it: The movie takes heavily from Lord of the Rings. The barbaric creatures that the persian army contains are just another rendering of LotR orks; And I’ve already mentioned the similarity in some themes. There are also some references to Gladiator, a movie I have loved from the first viewing.
I don’t even need to mention the historic differences. It’s a movie based on a comic book. What else is there to say? I’m not a 5-year-old schoolboy who barely knows about the trickery of cinematographs and takes everything he sees for granted, and worse, authentic history. IT’S A MOVIE, NOT A DOCUMENTARY!
To conclude, in my opinion 300 is a perfect masterpiece of stunning visual beauty. I’d watch it again immediately. I’ll buy the DVD when it’s out. The movie gets 8 out of 10 on my list. It can’t be that bad if it made me look for books on ancient greece this morning, right? 
