Singularly Tedious

Rating: 3/10 (15 May 2007)

I understood from the start that "300" was supposed to be pure, adrenaline pumping entertainment. It wasn't trying to be intelligent, subtle, or emotionally moving. So, I approached this movie only with the expectation of seeing awesome action sequences because, quite frankly, "300" is simply a series of connected fight scenes. Yet, I was bored.
For the first twenty minutes, "300" is visually stunning with visceral and effective fight sequences. At first, director Zack Snyder's shifting between slow motion and fast motion, creating a stop and go effect, enhanced the action on screen. An early scene with an oracle was particularly beautiful cinematographically. However, once the second major fight sequence began, I realized that Zack Snyder didn't have any more tricks to use. By the end of the movie, after ninety more minutes of fighting, I had seen the same moves multiple times. For a film that is composed purely of action sequences, "300" was surprisingly uninspired and monotonous. I didn't see anything I hadn't seen before.
Of course, a film cannot be pure action. "300" makes a failed attempt at implanting story and humanity in between its many fight scenes. The queen tries to garner Spartan support for war, an outcast tries to become a Spartan soldier, a counsel-man tries to politically maneuver his way towards power. The entire story eventually cumulated in a lesson of freedom and bravery. Spartans were free and brave, and so they fought to continue their freedom and bravery. It's all very simple. However, if I was supposed to root for the valiant Spartans, I didn't know. I found myself annoyed more than anything else at the attempts of characterization. Snyder's paper-thin appeals for sympathy revealed just how one- dimensional all the characters were.
As a piece of pure entertainment, "300" barely succeeds. Its fight sequences become tedious, and its story and characters are un-satisfyingly underdeveloped. Even the cinematography, beautiful at first, looses its initial effectiveness. In the end, "300" is a violent and bloody bore.