Exceptionally good at what it sets out to do

Rating: 8/10 (11 March 2007)

This movie sets out to tell a tale...not an intricately detailed and deep plot, but a TALE!!! This is a historical piece on a war! At this, it succeeds as no other picture of this type has ever succeeded. I am not easily thrilled by chauvinistic violence in the theaters, but I can easily say that the violence of this movie absolutely THRILLED me and I cannot explain how they made each death exciting...but they did. Credits to Snyder, obviously, for fantastic direction in a medium (the constant use of blue/green screen) that I hope takes off and spawns a new generation of filmmakers, and also to Miller for the adaptation. The original story of the heroic Spartans remains, at its basics, historically accurate. The celluloid liberties taken were well done and pertinent to the necessity of entertainment. I realize that I've been praising the rather abstract aspects of this movie, but the acting was, although not breath-taking, good. Butler and Headey are the obvious stand-outs. They've breathed life into characters that were nothing more than caricature-like historical figures that embodied heroics...giving the roles life and emotion that may not have been delivered appropriately, given other actors. Hats off to Butler...he was the heart of this film (aside from the production).
Enough quibbling over the specifics, go see this movie! It's worth your money and your time. This movie is unfortunately probably not worth a best picture nomination, but IS in fact, probably one of the more exciting movies I've seen in the last decade. As I said, this sort of adventurous film-making will hopefully have a future in Hollywood. 8/10. Bravo!