 |  | Get Showtimes... |
Review #425 of 365
Movie Review of 300 (2007) [R] 117 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.00
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 15 March 2007
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
Directed by: Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead)
Screenplay Written by: Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad (True Vengeance), and Michael Gordon based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Gerard Butler (Beowulf & Grendel) • Lena Headey (Imagine Me & You) • Dominic West (Hannibal Rising) • David Wenham (The Proposition) • Vincent Regan (Troy) • Rodrigo Santoro ("Lost")
Soundtrack: Download now from 
— or — order the CD below
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Frank Miller, the graphic novelist behind Sin City takes a decidedly different turn with a similar style with his historically spirited look at the famous battle of Battle of Thermopylae now turned into the startling new film 300 directed by Zach Snyder. The most amazing thing about the film is how it looks and feels. It is an experience, not dissimilar in some ways to the feeling of Sin City where the intention has been to create a look that bears as much resemblance to a comic book or graphic novel as possible. For 300, that means a sunset glow for most of the sky with striking figures of Spartans and Persian soldiers battling in fluid motions with time frozen stops in the middle. The effect is visually breathtaking at times. It will surprise many viewers, likely, that the film was shot nearly entirely in Montréal, Quebec in front of mostly blue screens with nearly every single shot in the film requiring heavy doses of visual effects. The results represent a remarkable cinematic achievement. The authors all admit to inducing historically inaccurate elements to the film and the storyline for the purpose of enhancing the experience. There is always a danger in doing so for history shows that most people, over time, tend to forget this distinction and accept the events they see in a film as factual—this might be called The Flinstones Syndrome where the vast majority of people who grew up watching the cartoon series believe that dinosaurs and people shared the earth back in the stone age, which of course, could not be further from the truth and off the facts by millions of years. One thing that would help on this and save teachers of history and science much grief would be to include a disclaimer at the start or conclusion that mentions the film's narrative is borrowed from history and then altered for the purposes of cinematic entertainment purposes only.
"…300 stands apart for its on-screen impact and powerful graphic novel translation, in all other areas…the film is lacking "
A companion film shown on the History Channel or some such outlet with study guides as to the changes would also be useful. So, all history aside, then let the movie be judged for itself in its own context. In the end analysis, then, the film lives up to billing in the effects area, but falters a bit in the story area. The notion here is that 300 brave Spartans led by Spartan King, Leonidas (Gerard Butler) fought to the death against an army of thousands of Persians under the command of the spectacular King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) while the elders of Sparta sat back and celebrated their annual Carneian Festival, Theron (Dominic West) plotted to overthrow the king, and Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) did everything in her power back home to help her King at great personal sacrifice. It probably need not be pointed out at this juncture that this is not the most engrossing of plot lines to grace the silver screen under the banner of an ancient battle film. Nothing against the heroism of the men who fought honorably and bravely against virtually insurmountable odds to defend the freedom of their slave-based society, of course, but whether that is enough with a few scenes of palace intrigue back home to warrant a movie, remains to be proven.
(Click Poster to Purchase)
While not tracking the minutes, it would seem that roughly a third of the film is scene after scene after scene of Persian soldiers getting sliced, diced, and otherwise impaled on sharp objects wielded by Spartan soldiers in every increasingly gory ways. Now, that's a tad unfair, because the film does begin with the life story of King Leonidas from boyhood to manhood. The story, actually, is more about him and his personality and character than anything else. Here is a man who truly and bravely committed himself to the protection and preservation of his people. And, honestly, Gerard Butler's performance was outstanding and real—that cannot be said for most of the rest of the cast, unfortunately. But, Leonidas, following the path of all Spartan men who were not misshapen or malformed at birth or born into the slave caste were taken from home at age 7 and thrust into a new world of Spartan warriors growing up learning to fight and protect ones brother until such time they would be cast out into the elements of nature to die or return a man. Leonidas returned ready to lead his people as king—the film is vague on how he becomes king. In any case, his character is incredibly well-developed and defined through sometimes subtle but, nonetheless, revealing means. His chief rival, politically, is Theron (Dominic West) who sets in motion events to lead to his dethronement. An opportunist, he seeks power behind closed doors through manipulation and intrigue. Mr. West plays the villain well endowing him with sufficient smarmy charm to believe he could rise up in power despite his obvious lack of character or honor. The rest of the cast, however, whether due to cheesy or ridiculously written dialogue, poorly illustrated characters, or miscasting fall far short from meeting the expectations for their roles.
(Click Poster to Purchase)
Chief among these is the absolutely over the top, borderline drag-queen approach to the characterization of Xerxes. Portrayed by Rodrigo Santoro best known from "Lost" all decked out in a wardrobe that would have made the 'girls' of Priscilla Queen of the Desert green with envy, photographically altered to make him appear over 8 feet tall, with an electronically altered voice to match, he comes across bearing more resemblance to Jaye Davidson's sexually ambivalent God Ra from the original movie Stargate than the mighty Persian King Xerxes who, at one time, commanded the largest empire in the history of the world stretching from Egypt to Afghanistan over 7 million people and 1 million square miles. Lena Headey, also, was not overly convincing as Queen Gorgo, but most of this probably stems from a persistent casting issue from which Hollywood seems unable to recover. These people are Greek and Persian! They are NOT Scottish, English, Bermudese, Welsh, German, or Brazilian—nothing against the Scots, English, Welsh, Germans, Brazilians, or the good people from Bermuda. They are excellent actors all, it's just that they aren't Greek or Persian. Could a single Greek actor be cast in a leading role? Not to pick on Zack Snyder too much because it's not like Wolfgang Petersen or Oliver Stone did much better in casting Troy or Alexander. In any case, this is also not to say that a great actor cannot play a role regardless of heritage. It's just that there seems to be no earthly reason why actors from a more diverse pool of the planet's talents might not be called upon to play their own ancestors. It a delicate subject to be sure, and this is a bit of a digression, but clearly, no white Englishman would be cast to portray Nelson Mandela. No, that would cause quite a stir. So, why is a Brazilian being cast to play one of the most fearsome Persian Kings of all time? Maybe Rodrigo Santoro's great grand parents immigrated to Brazil from Iran?
(Click Poster to Purchase)
On the one hand it shouldn't be about ethnicity, but on the other hand, why should it be sometimes but not all the time? If the character is just a character, it doesn't and shouldn't matter, if the character is of historical significance, maybe it does matter. In any case, the plethora of accents of the leads in 300 is confusing at worst and odd at best. Personally, I would have like to have seen a Mel Gibson approach to this, believe it or not, and to have had the film spoken in ancient Greek with subtitles. (A) this would have caused more focus on the meaning and sense of the dialogue—which might have forced improvements and (B) it would have forced some thinking about the accents and illogic of the casting choices. But, alas, a film made to deliver an impacting artistic vision rather than an historically accurate or important one, probably, this is too much to ask or about which to worry. In the end, here, 300 stands apart for its on-screen impact and powerful graphic novel translation, in all other areas, unfortunately, with due respect to Gerard Butler and his illustrious portrayal of Leonidas, the film is lacking a few important things.
Back to Top | W.I.P. Scale™ | Most Recently Reviewed Films | Films of 2005 | Films of 2006 | Films of 2007
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring 300 (2007)
Cast Members
Gerard Butler
• Lena Headey • Dominic WestDavid Wenham
• Vincent Regan • Rodrigo SantoroCo-Screenwriter / Director
Zack Snyder
Co-screenwriters
Kurt Johnstad
• Michael Gordon| Graphic Novel | Book | CD Soundtrack |
| DVD | VHS | Video Game |
| Related DVD | Related VHS | Related DVD |
300 (2007) Review-lite [150-word cap]
Frank Miller, the graphic novelist behind Sin City takes a decidedly different turn with a similar style in his historically spirited look at the famous battle of Battle of Thermopylae now the startling film 300 directed by Zach Snyder. The most amazing thing about the film is how it looks and feels--not dissimilar in some ways to the feeling of Sin City. For 300, that means a sunset glow for most of the sky with striking figures of Spartans and Persian soldiers battling in fluid motions with time frozen stops in the middle. The effect is visually breathtaking, though admittedly, historically inaccurate. Gerard Butler portrays the Spartan King, Leonidas, phenomenally while his archenemy, King Xerxes, does not fare as well under the guise of Rodrigo Santoro. The dialogue, acting, and storyline are nowhere nearly in the same league as the cinematic achievement resulting in a somewhat disappointing film overall.
No comments:
Post a Comment