Not the greatest movie but not the worst either

Rating: 6/10 (11 March 2007)

First off, I've never thought 300 was one of Frank Miller's better comics. I've always been a bigger fan of Sin City, Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year one. Not to say I didn't enjoy the comic, I just didn't like it as much as a lot of his other work.
In regards to the film, Zach Snyder has attempted to give the same treatment that Robert Rodriguez did with his take on Sin City, that is cinematically represent the artwork and story as celluloid. There is quite a bit of that, in fact it was shot on blue screen much the same way that Sin City was filmed.
What Rodriguez did not do though was add scenes to the existing material, in fact Rodriguez had to cut a few things from Sin City most likely for time. There's not much to the graphic novel of 300 and there's not much to the film either to be honest with you. It's basically Spartans tick off bad guys and fight them for days and are eventually betrayed by one ugly hunchback.
That's your story. The additional scenes of the Queen of Sparta were written for the film and do not appear in the original graphic novel. These are the weakest elements of the film. It's fascinating how much the movie dragged between battle sequences. The movie ultimately is visual masturbation: All style/no substance. Never has there been so many ramp speed shots in a single film. While Snyder may have been using this technique to give the film an overall feel and aesthetic, it becomes a one trick pony after a while.
Not to say the film isn't a visual treat for the eyes, it is that indeed. What it lacks is really any heart to the characters. They're fine actors and I was only groaning at a few of the performances ("You cut off my hand" gotta laugh) but they had nothing to really work with. Honor, glory, valor: all these things that are lost in our current society because our wars are fought on false pretenses and manipulated intelligence. I just didn't feel the film was very timely and it will make huge bucks at the box office but ultimately, it came off as one big video game, it even looks like one for that matter.
I didn't hate the film, but I need a little more than style to wow me. I need to be emotionally moved by a film. That's ultimately how I judge films, did it make me laugh, did it scare me, did it make me tear up or did it make me think? This film did none of that. I watched Zodiac the week before and it did three of those and yet this film will be far more successful because of the amount of mindless entertainment that is presented here. Mindless being the optimal word.