Tonight...We Dine In Hell!

Rating: Null/10 (22 March 2007)

The Joe Cool Experience: 300(2007)
Starring: Gerard Butler as King Leonidas Lena Headey as Queen Gorgo Dominic West as Theron Rodrigo Santoro as Xerxes
Plot: When it's learned that the Persians will invade Sparta and all of Greece, King Leonidas takes 300 Spartan soldiers to battle, against the governments wishes, against a million Persian soldiers.
As with Sin City, I hadn't actually read the graphic novel(also by Frank Miller) this was based on before seeing the movie. All I had to go on was trailer footage and so had no expectations going in except that I saw some great visuals.
What I got with this movie was an excellent action movie. This movie is what it is, a visually-stunning, extremely violent and bloody war movie. Let's start with the visuals. The same technology for Sin City I believe was used here, but you really can't tell. While that movie felt like a comic book/film noir, this uses it to make everything visually pleasing. The colors are bright and vivid, the action scenes are slowed down for full impact. The slowing down was stupid for some, but I found it to be a nice change of pace from the ultra fast cut-cut-cut fight scenes we're used to lately.
The effects also brought some otherworldly creatures to life, making this movie a combination of the true story of the Battle of Thermopylae and adding Greek mythology in there as well. We know that hunchbacks didn't exist and Xerxes probably was not that big, but it all enhances the viewing experience.
Secondly, this movie was ultra-violent. It's a war movie so it needed to be. Lots of blood everywhere with things like beheading, impalements, limbs lost, eye damage, arrows, blood everywhere. When this thing gets going it gets bloody and that worked just fine for me.
The acting, on some parts can go borderline-cheesy, so that would be one beef I had with this movie. Gerard Butler comes close to that area but manages to reign himself in to provide a solid performance as King Leonidas. The same can't be said for the majority of the other cast. In some ways the absurdity hinders it, and in other ways it helps. It makes it feel like a comic book, with over-the-top villains and lots of fight scenes.
I can't go a full rating for this movie, as I just feel it's not up to that standard(due to some lines spoken and acting) but I will recommend 300 because it's just a movie that every one should see. Especially the guys who want a bad-ass action flick.
Rating: **** of *****