Somewhat entertaining folkloric celebration of the ongoing war against tyranny featuring animated Greek statues

Rating: 6/10 (1 May 2007)

The 300 is an entertaining CGI and live action bloodbath with a lot of good messages which are, unfortunately couched in an endless stream of clichés. The script is, however, its weakest point, and is actually somewhat superfluous.
What you will take away from this film is really up to you. If you choose to be offended by ancient Spartan morality because it runs against your contemporary concerns, that's your choice. If you choose to see this as patriotic or nationalistic glorification of the military and organized, sanctioned murder - well perhaps that says more about you than it does about this film. If you choose to see it as an example of the potential of people who believe in themselves and in the value of their own lives because of a sense of freedom or a delusion of freedom, is, again, your choice. If you believe that bringing up embarrassing moments in a culture's heritage or telling a story from only one side (i.e. the side we know about) is unfair, well, then you should avoid history and stick with fantasy.
Interpret as you wish - the basics of this story - including the motives of Leonides and others - are true to the history that has been passed down. It should be no surprise that racism, nationalism, homophobia and other unfortunate and irrational cultural notions have a deep lineage in human heritage. To argue that films should not attempt to depict these things would be to deny their existence - and would do nothing to fight against them.
The 300 recounts a piece of ancient Greek history, as retold (and greatly embellished) by thousands of generations of Europeans - most recently Frank Miller in a graphic novel. I do not wish to take anything away from this story. It really is a great one. Three hundred Spartans and Arcadians really did take on several hundred thousand Persians from Xerxes armies in 480 BC at Thermopylae. And they really did scare the hell out of the Persians. Of course, most of the details depicted in this version of the story (and there have been many films about this battle before),are made up.
The film succeeds in making visible the main points - both metaphorical and philosophical, that must be taken away from the mythic story of the defense of Thermopylae. The Spartan level of defiance, commitment to the value of their lives over and above their lives themselves, Greek views of Xerxes and the Persians (source of much folklore) and the tremendous debt Sparta accrued from the rest of Greece.
The excellent visuals - which include exaggerated deformities, African animals trussed up to appear as demonic monsters, and a variety of other bent truths - really bring home the mythic quality of the story (this is incidentally characteristic of Miller's art as well),and well suggest how many of the Greeks actually viewed the wonders of Xerxes vast host.
The acting is good for what it is - a simple, very violent and graphic tale. The directing is OK, but the detailed, beautifully choreographed fight scenes (which take up about half of the screen time) use the same mixture of greatly detailed slow motion cuts and fast-paced close-in chaos that has become a Hollywood war film cliché in recent times. Although I have criticized the script as the worst element of this film, speaking is really only important in about 15 total minutes within the film. It is worth listening to every scene with Xerxes in it, the conversations between Leonides and Laerthes and Leonides and his captain, and Gorgo's speech in the senate chamber. Otherwise, the soundscape is mostly worthwhile only for the audio components of the battle. The musical component of the soundtrack is mostly good, but occasionally utilizes an inappropriate and frankly silly hard rock instrumentation.
Bottom line - if you enjoy action films featuring graphic violence and a lot of ripped guys dancing with swords, spears and shields, this is the film for you. If you want to get a general sense of the battle of Thermopylae, this is a good choice (however, don't think of it as a substitute for reading you textbook on ancient Greece). If you're looking for a great, realistic, war film this is pretty far off that mark and you might want to look into We Were Soldiers or The Great Escape instead.
This review was written by a professional archaeologist