Pleasant surprise

Rating: 8/10 (2 August 2007)

Going into this movie, I had no idea what I was in store for. The Wal-Mart cashier said he went to the theater 5 times to see this, so I thought, "wow, this must be the greatest movie of all time." As the movie began, I squinted with doubt, unsure of where we were going. Infanticide, child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, leprosy, kiddie porn made me wonder what I'd gotten myself into. But it all started to make sense. I knew this had originally been a comic book and was loosely based on the Spartan battle of Thermopylae. I was mesmerized by the way many scenes contained images that could've been lifted right off the page of the comic book. The artistic talents of the team that made this movie are quite evident. The battle scenes, while graphic, are done beautifully. The creatures are hideously delicious. Xerxes is bigger than life. The queen portrays the strongest of women, but is still feminine and ultimately vulnerable. The whole movie is wonderfully NOT politically correct. I never saw Sin City, but I will be going out and buying a copy today. This movie is not for kids, but I recommend it to everyone else.