Just not very good...

Rating: 3/10 (25 March 2007)

Dreadful. Utterly dreadful. That's about as much as I can muster in regard to this absolute mess.
Now, I think I should first let it be known that I'm not a fan of historical epics at the best of times (Spartacus, Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator being the exceptions to that rule) but I am always willing to give the genre the opportunity to win me over, as the storytelling value, historical relevance and powerhouse performances are often enough to keep hold of even the biggest detractor's (i.e. me) attention. However, from beginning to end, this really did just take the proverbial Mick.
Whilst a marvel in just how a movie can now be made (albeit at the complete detriment of every other cinematic fundamental), I found it insipid, slow moving but not particularly detailed, poorly acted (shouting and snarling whilst already shouting and snarling your way through the script should never pass for the kind of emotive acting the genre demands), and beyond ridiculous. There is far too much focus on premise, visuals (completely detached me from feeling anything for anybody in the film - the best films tend to make the surroundings an extra character to juxtapose with the foreground, 300 doesn't even bother trying) and plot and therefore there wasn't a single character I could care less about by the end of the film, as each of the primary protagonists were given nothing like the development or emotional layers that invoke the viewers empathy or sympathy. Each of the main protagonists in most of the films I choose to advocate have a narrative that are equal measures of intriguing, thought evoking and emotionally viable, something 300 would have done well to at least try an attempt.
Style over substance and nothing more than a glorified, hammed-up action flick, in similar vein to something as historically and cinematically apt as Conan the destroyer. It really is a shame that they chose to take this particular route and soil a flick and a story with so much potential.
Pathetic film.