really poor or a very good joke

Rating: 1/10 (22 March 2007)

I went to see this film upon the recommendation of friends who know I like ancient/military history and epic movies. I must say it is possibly the campest and worst acted film I have ever seen. I'm very willing to suspend my disbelief when I go to the cinema, and am not averse to a bit of cheese, but after a few minutes i didn't know whether to laugh or cry. If this was meant as a joke, then fair play to the creators-it succeeds beautifully. If it is meant as a new style of film then it's 'hello' to yet more dumbing down and replacing real acting with limp melodrama, shouting a lot and CGI. The Spartan dialogue, which I assume is supposed to be heroic, stentorian, Homeric type stuff, comes across as tedious, pompous, wooden ranting which makes Nazi eugenicists seem, by comparison, quite liberal. To say that the acting was bad would be an insult to 'ham' actors. The Persian army, especially Xerxes, is depicted as some drug-fuelled gay disco on wheels-hilarious- this bit really must be a 'knowing' camp joke. Other inconsistencies arise in the Spartan's championing of 'reason'- and then ruling out of court any sensible military strategy. They denounce 'weakness', but all seem terribly moved when one of the characters mourns a loss to a frantic and 'unSpartan' degree. According to their own endlessly repeated ethic, he should be killed for being a bit of a wimp. Well, I can't decide: whether it means to be or not, it's an hilariously bad camp classic.