the most enjoyable unintentionally funny movie I've seen in a long time

Rating: 7/10 (15 September 2009)

Of all the ways to film the story of the three hundred Spartans who faced off against thousands of Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C., I guess the only way it should be told is in an exaggerated, bloody, thunderous battle epic style with severed limbs flying through the air and rivers of blood pouring over a battlefield. Another, much better medieval epic that took this approach was Mel Gibson's Oscar-winner "Braveheart" in 1994. But whereas "Braveheart" did this in an artistic style, "300" does it to the point where even the high-intensity bloody battle sequences do not become harrowing or heart-pounding, but rather a little silly.
This is one of the most outlandishly over-exaggerated movies I've seen in a long time. It's so pompous and over the top, perhaps because it was based too much on the Frank Miller graphic novel that merely used the true story of Leonidas the 300 Spartans as inspiration. In the end, I did enjoy the movie, but not in the way that I believe the filmmakers wanted me to. I found the movie to be unintentionally funny because of the way it exacerbates with the clichés of his genre, but it is truly one of the most entertaining unintentionally funny movies that I've seen in a long time.
Visually, "300" is a real treat. It's hilariously over-pumped lighting and CGI effects give it a real video-gamey appearance. The movie also puts this together with dialogue is that is absurdly corny such as Gerard Butler screaming "This is Sparta!" before kicking a Persian messenger, who falls in super-slow motion down into a pit. That's another thing I might as well poke fun at. Looking at "300", I oftentimes wonder if perhaps the director, Zack Snyder had made the movie and then realized that it was an hour too short and the only way to make it reach the intended length was to convert half the movie not only into slow motion, but *really slow motion. There's a scene where the Persians are riding toward Sparta and it takes about ten seconds for a horse to complete his stride. This scene, coupled with the corny narration, really stirs a generous chuckle from the audience.
Also exaggerated are the battle sequences and the way the Spartans not only fight against Persians, but giants, men with giant blades for arms, and mutant men who look and sound more like the Urak-hai from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Persian king, Xerxes is comically portrayed by Rodrigo Santoro, who is graphically enlarged to the point where disbelief cannot be suspended and he is clad in so much glitter makeup and his voice run through a base amplifier so much that one cannot help but laugh at him instead of fearing or condemning him like they would have the real Xerxes.
One might assume from the way I've been poking fun at "300" in my review that it was too cornball for my taste. But no, again, I had fun with the movie. I enjoyed it and there were some truly powerful moments, but the movie was just so exacerbated and over the top, maybe too much for its own good, that one cannot help but laugh and make jokes at it. And besides, maybe this movie will inspire good soldiers, for the Spartans were brilliant and powerful warriors and from what I saw in "300", all you need to be a Spartan, is have a six-pack, wear lots of baby oil on your skin, and be able to scream at the top of your lungs. Potentially, according to this film, half the people I know could be Spartans. Isn't that something?