"A new age has come, an age of freedom"

Rating: 9/10 (23 March 2007)

Yes, a new age has come. An age of computer generated landscapes and special effects that make you feel like bleeding with the heroes on screen. That's 300. A great battle that keeps you with your eyes glued to the screen for two hours, not even trying to anticipate the next move, because it simply does not matter. You know that the spartans will stop wave after wave, and if you don't, you want them to. The landscapes are extraordinary, the soundtrack is something everyone wants to have at home, something to listen over and over again. The story is not the best I've seen. It can not be compared to Gladiator, Braveheart or The Last Samurai. Those have well built story lines, that make you symphatize with the heroes, even wish the ending was different , although you know they're going to die. 300 has no such worth in writing. Reading the screenplay would probably not get you "there". But it doesn't need it so much. Who, except maybe for the persian's descendents, would not symphatize with the spartans? It's a classic battle between the few and the many. Now, to all of you who wrote about this movie not being historically accurate...IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE! It's a movie based on a comic book. Nobody complaint about the comic book being inaccurate. But when the movie appeared on screen, they were on it like vultures, complaining about this and that. This movie is made so people would enjoy watching it. It doesn't replace the history book. About the acting, Gerard Butler is perfect for the role, he has the attitude and the power to lead his people. All the cast is very well put together, from the child Leonidas, to the treacherous Theron. All the spartans are well placed, although they don't look like being three hundred men in the battle(more like 50). The only flaw in this cast is Lena Headey. She's so awful, that I had to drop my rating one point. From the beginning to the end she keeps the same face expression, she only smiles, with no reason of course, when she's speaking to the council( a thing that would have never happened at that time). She has the same eyes while saying goodbye to her king and while killing Theron, after offering herself to him with the same eyes as greeting her child. That would not be such a great deal if she had a minor role, but in this movie the spartan queen is as much as a hero as her husband,so some good acting would be appreciated.
All that said , I gave this movie a 10 for effects, a 10 for soundtrack, a 10 for atmosphere, an 8 for acting and an 8 for storyline. So, that's a 9. Go see it if you haven't done it yet. It's the first of many.