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ARTICLE
Movie Review: 300
by Jonathan Baylis Published: March 6, 2007
Rating: Country: USA Release Date: March 9, 2007 Distributor: Warner Bros. Director: · Zack Snyder Cast: · Gerard Butler · Lena Headey · Dominic West · David Wenham Related Sites: ·IMDb ·The 300 Spartans on IMDb
Grade: B-
You can glean from my previous article on Sin City that I'm a
Frank Miller comic book fan. A huge admirer of his work on Daredevil, The Dark Knight, and the creation he's probably
most known for today, Sin City. After years of Sin City's stark black and white, Frank tried something different. 300
was a glorious, color mini-series based on "The 300 Spartans", a movie adapting the true story of the Battle of Thermopylae.
The comic book, expertly colored by Frank's partner Lynn Varley, was illustrated as a series of double page spreads. Frank,
never known to bore, created a unique, wide-canvas for this epic tale. Could it translate back to the wide-screen?
The story behind Thermopylae can be broken down simply. Xerxes, the King of Persia, was set on conquering Europe, the
birthplace of Democracy, and to do so, had to go through the Greeks. King Leonidas of Sparta brought 300 of his best
soldiers to stop the thousands-strong army. The outcome inspired all of Greece to beat back Xerxes and prevent Persia's
world-domination.
I had my doubts about this one. Zack Snyder underwhelmed me as the director of the remake of my favorite horror movie, "Dawn
of the Dead". For me, it lacked the satirical bite of the original and stole Danny Boyle's fast-zombie concept from "28 Days
Later". This time around, he's decided to swipe Robert Rodriguez's idea of adapting Frank Miller panel by panel. I'll give
him this though...
"300" is a visual masterpiece. Style as far as the widescreen canvas could reach. So much style that it drowns the heart of
the story no matter how loud Leonidas (Gerard Butler) screams passionately. Shot against a blue-screen or green-screen or
whatever screen they use these days, it is a series of set pieces, each one more dazzling than the next, but again, lacking
the pathos to give the emotional power behind the moments. It's as if someone forwarded to the battle sequences in "The Two
Towers" and "Return of the King", avoiding all the backstory.
The original inspiration
For me, as a graphic novel, this was understandable and forgivable. Frank Miller comes from the classic Marvel Comics
tradition of fight after fight, and it's about how pretty and cool and interesting you create it. But film isn't as
two-dimensional a medium and I expect more from a movie, as I did with "Sin City".
This won't stop young men from seeing this uber-masculine flick though. It'll give them all of the violence we Americans are
used to getting. Snyder utilizes tons of slow-motion so you can see each individual blood drop with every slice. It's John
Woo meets "The Matrix" with gallons upon gallons of red stuff thrown in.
I wish I could say more about a film based on a battle that basically saved Democracy for the modern world, but it's just not
that deep. And I wish it was. I'd like to see the next "Ben-Hur" or "Spartacus". But I just get watered-down popcorn
movies like "Gladiator" and "300".
