An art film, but little else.

Rating: 5/10 (21 March 2009)

OK, so a film based on a graphic novel will never hit all the right spots - but this one misses more than most. But make no mistake, this is beautifully filmed , or should I say, beautifully CGed.
The plot is rather simple in it's presentation, the bad Persians want to take over Spartan, and there is just the 300 stopping them. There are no real characters, just Heroic Spartans, evil Persians and two-faced traitors  to enjoy the film, just take them for what they are. Beyond that, the real enjoyment is the visuals and effects. Fight scenes are wonderfully choreographed with slow motion and dynamic zooming. Great, for the first half  then gets a bit repetitive.
Watching it, you get the feeling it's been done before  especially in LoTR and Gladiator. Whilst this is not a bad thing, they could have made more of an effort to disguise the origin of scenes and ideas.
The worst thing was the marine 'wo-woing'. It really did distract and placed the film and script in a more modern-day political setting. It was not needed and for a film that tried to be accurate to ancient Spartan, it was a glaring mistake.
The ending was a particular let down  expected better.
300 will be a must-see by any film fan, if only for the visual aspects.
Watch. Enjoy. Move on.