Unleashing a Massive Load of Testosterone in a Fancifully Gory Version of a Real-Life Battle

Rating: 6/10 (19 February 2008)

In 480 B.C., the Battle of Thermopylae was a precursor of the more familiar Battle of the Alamo in 1836. Both were examples of how a small battalion of men was able to fend off a much larger army by a combination of resourcefulness, fortitude and sheer will. However, the scale of Thermopylae was far more dramatic as 300 Spartans under King Leonidas held at bay for three days over a quarter million Persians under Xerxes the Great. Directed with technical flourish by Zack Snyder, this visually elaborate 2007 action film is a fictionalized retelling of that momentous event as it was vividly envisioned in Frank Miller's 1999 graphic novel. Similar to the 2005 adaptation of Miller's "Sin City", a constant parade of striking, often gory images is what drives the momentum of the screenplay co-written by Snyder, Kurt Johnstad and Michael P. Gordon. However, unlike that story and more similarly, Ridley Scott's "Gladiator", a coherent narrative flow and a more involving sense of character development are lacking to a significant degree.
The net result is a stylish piece of juvenile pop entertainment but hardly more substantive than a typical Italian sword-and-sandal picture from the early 1960's. Things start promisingly as we are presented with a cursory overview of Leonidas' fate as King of Sparta when he is separated from his mother at age seven to undergo the rigorous training necessary to have the courage and bloodlust of a true leader. The problem is that Snyder keeps painting the story's mythological aspects with broader and broader brushstrokes. Dialogue takes on a contemporary, almost comical tone that makes it difficult to take seriously the gravity of the events depicted. The battle scenes, especially an overindulgent use of slow motion, are equally outlandish with the gore so exaggerated and figures so grotesque (like the Uber-Immortal) that it makes it difficult to understand or even care about the motivations behind the characters' actions. Everything is larger than life and so lacking in detail and nuance that all the actors can do is accommodate the over-stylized treatment.
The pumped-up, half-clothed bodies match up well with the comic book sensibilities on display here, chief among them Gerard Butler, who is ideally cast as Leonidas. It's not a complex role, but even with his distinctively Scottish brogue, he has no problem showcasing the nobility, stubbornness and mocking cockiness necessary to be leading such an audaciously fatalistic military strategy. Made up like a bejeweled NY-glam boy, Rodrigo Santoro seems less than a match for the commanding Leonidas as the seemingly omnipotent, seven-foot Xerxes. Better is Lena Headey as the Spartan queen Gorgo, whose devotion to Leonidas goes unabated in home front scenes, where she has to fend off the advances of the dastardly Theron while begging the state council to send more troops. The rest of the cast really doesn't register much beyond the epic film stereotypes they are playing, including David Wenham's obligatory turn as the narrator Dilios. It takes a certain artistry to provide grace and power to a story mythologized from a real event, but it appears most of the filmmakers' efforts lie on the surface.
The two-disc 2007 DVD package should make fans palpitate with glee. Disc One has the best extra - the constantly informative commentary track from Snyder with periodic contributions from Johnstad and director of photography Larry Fong. There is no doubt Snyder did a lot of research, and he is extremely forthcoming with the behind-the-scenes details, which in this case, is very helpful. Disc Two contains a lot of small extras, the most prominent being the mostly intriguing 24-minute "300 Spartans: Fact or Fiction?", in which Miller, Snyder and historians discuss the painstaking detail as well as the liberties taken with this interpretation of the actual battle. Another historically oriented short and a brief making-of featurette are also included, as well as a quick short on the translation of the blue-screen images. Miller is interviewed separately in one fifteen-minute piece, and there is a multi-chapter Web production diary, which seems to be a more common feature on DVD sets these days.