Mar 18, 2007 06:01 PM
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There is always something exciting about a movie based on a graphic novel. We expect some darkness, some twisted tale and a lot of ….well……. graphics!
300, just by its tagline and promos, obviously attracts only the action flick lovers. ‘They were 300 against a million’ says enough about the movie. Its probably mythological or historical, we’re looking at a near impossible scenario of a battle, we’re looking at warriors who are superheroes of their time and they are going to unleash hell in battle. It’s going to be bloody, gruesome, and raw. If you expected anything else out of this movie and were therefore disappointed, then you probably are not from this planet.
480 BC. Spartans were the invincible descendents of Hercules. Right from childhood, each Spartan boy would be trained to become the ultimate fighting machine. The elite army of the king would be warriors who could make WWE go bankrupt simply with their walk. King Leonidas(Gerard Butler), a wise and patriotic Spartan as there can be, leads a badly outnumbered troop into battle with the mightiest of all, Persian army led by Xerxes who threatened to rule all lands. His move was against the wishes of the Priests and the politicians but was nevertheless, a desperate attempt to save their lands.
Leonidas, with his valiant and magnificent troop of 300 of the finest warriors of Greece, forms a barricade at the narrow pass of Thermopylae that would block the Persian army from entering Sparta. The strategy worked brilliantly and they managed to lay down thousands, if not millions of the diverse battalions of the Persian army.
At the same time, back in Sparta, we have a cunning and corrupt power player in the politics of Greeks who delays the sending of the Greek army to aid the King’s campaign. The Queen desperately seeks to convey to the counsel that they must send their troops or Sparta will be overrun by the mad Xerxes, who claims to be the God of all Gods. Time is running out as the 300 Herculean Spartans stand guard against the indefatigable Persian forces.
The confrontations are simply electrifying. The warriors, who look like superheroes, also exude a lot of power in their dialogues. The combat sequences are highly stylized with slow motion used to its greatest potential to bring out the scenes aesthetically. The director uses all his artistic liberty to depict the battle sequences using the latest CG and cinematography techniques. From bronze lighting to just red all over the screen, the film looks like a sword dipped in warm blood. There are obviously some gut wrenching scenes containing amputations, head cut offs, severing of limbs, piercing of arrows right through the eye and head, creatures of all sorts(like we have seen in The Return of the King) and an impossible situation for the Spartan army. Yes it gets very gory and bloody but it has been done very well. Add to that some rock music with a lot of electric guitar as a background score and you will have teenage spectators’ adrenalin pumping for a whole 2 hours.
The film looks spectacular with its landscape, stills, slow motion sequences and parts of the battle that send you back to *The Lord of the Rings *era where impossible battles were fought.
The scene where a million arrows fired high into the sky block the sunlight is one of the breathtaking scenes of the movie.
The warriors have some rawness in them which is a result of their desperation that has brought them to battle. They are ruthless and powerful but they are only 300.
This Frank Miller’s saga is sad in its eventuality but the film doesn’t let you leave in sadness as it brings the renewal of hope and glory among Spartans.
The film is electrifying, intense, mind blasting, jaw dropping and stunning in its action and visuals. The lack of depth in plot and building of characterizations maybe something that you would want to see but then the film is not supposed to be a Gladiator but only a graphic portrayal of a bloody and impossible battle against all odds for the 300 Spartans.
It’s action and violence all the way and it’s bloody good!
- 9.050 On a scale of 1-10.
