So Far, In This Early Tear, This Is The Movie To Beat

Rating: 10/10 (12 March 2007)

I'm a comic book geek. For those of you that know me and read my reviews, this most likely will come as no surprise to you. I grew up on a steady diet of superhero comic's as a kid, and I'm proud to say it's still a diet I keep to this day. I love that superhero movies have broken out under the action genre label, and are now labeled as what they truly are, superhero. That being said though, it seems like most movie goers are getting burned out on superhero films. Hollywood has been cranking them out left and right, to the point now that second tier characters like Ghost Rider has gotten his own feature film.
Does this mean that films based on comic books are a dead thing? No. Enter the anti-hero. The first big anti-hero film that made a big splash at the box office was Mike Mignol's Hellboy, a film in which the hero was a demon from hell. Then came the over rated but still good, A History Of Violence. The hero of that film was a killing machine for the mafia. Then the man that changed the face of comics forever with their dark undertones and more for adult audiences, Frank Miller threw his hat into the Hollywood ring and brought us the amazing film Sin City. Miller not only wrote and drew the graphic novels for Dark Horse Comics, he also co-wrote and co-directed with Robert Rodriguiez, to make the best comic to film transformation ever. Sin City was praised by fans and critics alike and it's sequel is in the works. It came to no surprise from me when I heard that Miller's other graphic novel that he wrote and drew, 300, was going to be brought to life.
Like Sin City, 300 was filmed entirely in front of blue and green screens, and the back ground was totally computer generated. That doesn't mean the 300 wasn't amazing.
300, so far in this early year is the best movie of 2007. The acting is awesome, the battle scenes are incredible, and it's just a fun movie. The plot is simple. The Persian Empire wants King Leonidas (Gerard Butler, who was awesome) to surrender Sparta to the Persian's. Leonidas refuses to do so and chooses to send his small country to war against the Persians. Sadly for King Leonidas, the corrupt council of Sparta will not back his plans to go to war and wants his to surrender.
With no help from his country, Leonidas gathers 300 of his best soldiers, to fight against over 1 million Persian soldiers, and the results are an amazing film that deserves all the attention the very overrated Gladiator got.
Unlike Sin City, Miller was not 100 percent hands on during this film. He wrote and produced 300 but did not direct. Instead Miller handed the directing chores to Zack Snyder, who directed the amazing Dawn Of The Dead re-make in 2004. That makes sense seeing as how Dawn of The Dead is about a handful of survivors fighting a million zombies.
300 is a movie for guys who like movies. You just leave your brain at the door, or you can just turn it off, and go and watch the carnage unfold before you and have a blast like I did. I saw this film with my wife and two of my friends, and all four of us loved it. Fans who do not like a lot of violence and ballad will not enjoy this film, but for those who can overlook it, run, do not walk, to your local theater and see this film. It looks even better on an IMAX screen.
Now a note to Mr. Miller. Please, Please, Please turn Batman: The Dark Knight Returns into a film.