A cliché, silly, hollow movie.

Rating: 1/10 (26 March 2007)

300 was basically Gladiator for dumb people. I watched it for free online and I still feel ripped off. The first ten minutes are okay, but then it all falls apart. Instead of sharp, emotional dialog, there's a bunch of screaming mixed in between shallow discussions of freedom which sound like they came from bumper stickers or t-shirts. And while we're on the subject of freedom, are we really to expect that a society where babies are thrown to their deaths if they are imperfect, young boys are abducted into military service at the age of 7, and girls are taken to do awkward, jerky, drugged-up dances in front of decrepit old pagan priests is a pinnacle of liberty and reason? On top of that the plot is paper thin, there is no character development to speak of, and it felt so hollow and shallow, and worst of all it takes itself too seriously. But hey, as long as it's entertaining I should be able to look past all those right? Well sadly the movie's long-touted visual effects consist of giving everything a copper tint, and slowing down every single fight. It looks like a video game, and the gimmick wears off fast. There's only so many times you can look at a guy being speared in slow-mo and still be impressed. I was just bored, and the blood and gore was so fake and gratuitous that all I cold do was laugh. Like Sin City, it was all style, no substance. Far from being the deep, powerful, original film it was marked as, the whole thing was cliché, hollow, and silly. Though to it's credit, it did have a cool soundtrack and the actors did a nice enough job with what they had to work with. But if you want to see a good guy movie, rent "Where Eagles Dare" or "The Dirty Dozen".
I blame Zack Snyder for sticking too close to the source material. Frank Miller may be able to draw, but he sure can't write. At least he hasn't been able to since 1990 when he became a mindless self-parody.