Close to perfection

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2012)

The movie 300 is a magnificent cinematic feat. The pacing, the acting, the action and not to mention the cinematography. The look and feel of this movie surpasses other comic book movies where the source material is actually the storyboards. Movies like Sin City and Watchmen are good movies, but 300 manages to take it to another level. It's tight and lean.
The plot of the movie is that the Persian army under the self-proclaimed god Xerxes is on the march to world domination. Their plan is to reach the European continent after taking over all of Asia Minor. But the Spartan King Leonidas refuses to be ruled as the entire Spartan code is derived from the notion of free will, and the Spartans way of maintaining that freedom is by being the best soldiers in the entire world. From infancy the male children are weighed and measured and if found wanting hurled to the wild animals. There is simply no room for weakness in the Spartan world.
Leonidas marches off with 300 of his best men, under strong objections from the counsel and the in direct contradiction of the will of the gods, to stop the oncoming Persian hoards. He bottle necks them into a narrow mountain passage known to this day as the Hot Gates and the fiercest battles ensue.
This movie thrives by its action sequences and taking at a glance you would think there is nothing more to this movie. You would, however, be cheating yourself to a fantastic piece of cinema. The acting equals in my opinion the visual side, helped a great deal by a tight and funny script. The characters are of course over the top but in this sort of movie they have to be. The Spartans live by the sword and all they crave for in life is a good death. Therefore their moral code has to be far and above what we today would find reasonable.
Three characters who illustrate this is Leonidas played by Gerard Butler, Stelios played by Michael Fassbender and the Captain played by Vincent Regan. Butler and Fassbender are by now the most famous of the three mentioned, but the character that is best fleshed out is the Captain. Vincent Regan brings a sadness to the role that makes the Captain the most believable character of the bunch. Joining the 300 is his son so you know that he more than the rest of them, has emotions tied up in this even though they all are tough guys. He doesn't have that much screen time but his presence in the scenes lends a kind of voice of reason to the small army. He and the King are the only ones in the army who seem to understand that there is no way 300 men over time can stand their ground against a million Persians, they know this but still don't care. Fassbender plays the young soldier who is incredibly "gung ho". He and the Captain's son form a striking friendship and together they are a menacing force able to take on 30 men all by themselves, because they understand each other and know how they both move on the battlefield. Even though he is young there is nothing he craves more than "a good death" as he explains to an Athenian soldier (the Athenians have joined forces with the Spartans to overthrow the yoke of tyranny), and he seeks it in every battle relentlessly.
Everything in this movie is perfect: the acting, the story, the action, the cinematography, the costumes, the makeup, the score everything comes together so incredibly well in this movie.
If you are a fan of movies than this is a must see movie. Nothing in this movie is out of place, pace or sync. It works on all levels.