xenophobia the movie!!!!

Rating: 2/10 (17 August 2007)

So, this is a first for me: I am actually writing this review as I am watching the movie. I've never done that before. Usually, I take time to mull a movie over, to weigh its pros and cons, etc., but 300 leaves little for me to ponder. My boyfriend interprets this movie as a joke in and of itself, and I suppose he's right. You'd almost think it has to be a spoof of itself.
Actually, I have to give this film a lot of credit. I have never, in my life, seen a movie simultaneously insult women, homosexuals, intellectuals, genderqueer folk, people who question authority, people with dark complexions, people who don't support war, foreigners (particularly those of Middle Eastern descent), and, most bizarrely, people with facial piercings. It's really quite amazing. Almost breathtaking. As the movie progresses, I find myself adding more groups of people to the list above.
Now, yes, I know I can't help but take this silly movie a bit to heart, but, given the current political climate, I can't help but notice some not-particularly-subtle nationalism. I think the word "insidious" is probably the best way to describe it, and "propaganda" would not be inappropriate. Oh, but some say, it's based on a comic that was written prior to the events of today. I can't speak for the graphic novel, having never read it, but to separate this film from current events is nearly impossible. The mere presence of the phrase "Freedom is not free" is enough to turn the movie into something of a recruitment video, along with the decision to release this movie in 2006, when support for other Middle Eastern campaigns is faltering. Possibly the most questionable is the obvious numerous phobias that abound--the villains are foreign, of different races than our leather-Speedo-clad heroes, they wear jewelry and makeup, their war animals are "exotic" (elephants and rhinos), and the disfigured are continuously portrayed as evil, soulless and better off dead. Apparently, only the robustly beautiful and Caucasian are fit to be called valiant.
Political and social reasons aside, the movie was fairly predictable, with lots of manly yelling and glistening pectorals, "surprise" ambushes anyone in the audience can see a mile off, solemn intonations, and one very weird and uncomfortable blue-lit epic sex scene. The film retains its two final stars for the choreography (mildly entertaining, though not as original as I think the filmmakers hoped it to be) and some of the imagery (mostly CGI, not as good as Sin City's), and the surprisingly strong character of the Spartan queen, Gorgo (which, oddly enough, is also the name of a very cheesy English monster picture from the sixties. It was better than 300.), though that isn't to say the Gorgo character is a particularly enlightened portrayal.
So, if you see it, try to laugh and don't take it as seriously as it takes itself, but I don't think that's possible.