Last Wednesday I watched 300, which is a film adaptation of a comic book of the same name by Frank Miller. The storyline is loosely based on Battle of Thermopylae, an epic battle between a small Greek force against an overwhelming Persian army.
Story-wise, the movie is pretty simple. Leonidas, played by Gerard Butler, is the king of Sparta, a Greek state which is about to be invaded by the Persians. The Spartan Council has decided to sit on its hands, so King Leonidas takes matters into his own to prevent the Persian attack by meeting the army in the narrow cliffs of Thermopylae (The Hot Gates). King Leonidas takes 300 of his best soldiers (hence the movie’s name) and fights off wave after wave of the Persian’s endless army.
Frank Miller is renowned for his film noir-style comics which incorporate highly stylised imagery. In that vein, 300 also features dramatic and stylised visuals, fight scenes and actions sequences, and this is where the movie really shines. It really does feel like you’re watching a comic book. Guys will love the testosterone-fueled fight scenes. The fight scenes where the outnumbered Spartans defeat their enemies with relative ease reminded me of a medieval Matrix.
Unfortunately, the imagery and visual richness of the movie is only where the movie excels. I felt that the storyline was under-developed and found the movie draggy at times. I couldn’t help but compare the movie to Gladiator, Troy and the Lord of the Rings and found that it fell short alongside them. I certainly didn’t enjoy 300 as much as the Pursuit of Happyness, the last movie I watched (review here).
Overall, the 300 is a pretty good movie. Not great, but still decent enough to warrant a watch in the cinema, although it may be more worth it if you go on Wednesday nights for the discount.
The blogjunkie’s rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
