Surprisingly good

Rating: 8/10 (24 March 2007)

My wife and I watched this with a cynical eye, fully expecting a video game writ large. While there was an element of that we were both surprised how involved we became in the story and action. My wife said(after the first battle) "Its going to get tedious now!" But she was hooked from beginning to end as the director cleverly sidestepped that trap. The film looks superb and the acting is pretty good. Butler as the king makes up for the lacklustre performance in Phantom of the Opera and is convincingly macho. I understand the cast spent a while beefing up for their half-naked roles.It is occasionally quite erotic in scenes involving Butler and the beautiful Headley (as well as homo-erotic). The battle sequences are beautifully staged and while bloody, are not gratuitously gory. Kudos to all involved in this. I am watching "The 300 Spartans (1962)" on TV this afternoon. I saw it as a kid and thought it was great. It will be fascinating to see the treatments side by side almost 50 years apart!!