The Best Movie Theater Experience of the 2000's

Rating: 10/10 (29 April 2007)

300 is by far the most entertaining movie that I've seen in my life. Never before have I been reeled in like this by a film. Zack Snyder took Frank Miller's epic masterpiece and has brought it on screen in a beautiful and mesmerizing way that can only be described as epic. 300 is as good as epic film making gets, with an extraordinary Gerard Butler carrying the film all the way.
A Spartan man is born and taught to believe only one thing. Honor. The greatest thing a Spartan can do is die for his country, his Sparta. Now, with the threat of takeover and slavery by the Persian Godking Xerxes, Spartan King Leonidas (Butler) must lead the 300 best soldiers he has into battle against Xerxes' massive army of millions against the will of the Spartan politicians, in the hope that they can preserve honor, glory, and freedom.
First off, Gerard Butler is perfectly cast as King Leonidas. I simply cannot imagine what the film would have been like without him, nor can I imagine any other actor in the role. Butler commands the screen with a mammoth presence that you won't be able to disregard. His voice, his power, his delivery...all of it is absolutely perfect for the movie. You'll have no doubt in your mind that this magnificent actor is a king. He creates an amazing character in a film that is more about the fight than the people involved. That's one of director Zack Snyder's biggest strongpoints. He balances the story of the 300 as a whole and individual character stories extremely well. We get the most insight into Leonidas, obviously, but there are also a portion of other characters that get their fair share of development, including Queen Gorga of Sparta (Lena Headley) and King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro). David Wenham also provides a mystical and perfect voice as Dilios and the narrator of the film. Headley provides a strong female character that is very similar to Leonidas, and is extremely believable. Rodrigo Santoro is somewhat cheesy, yet powerful as Xerxes, but it's not his fault if he seems too out of place. His body is edited by computers to look massive, as is his voice (it still fits, however). Santoro's base acting however, is very good, and he provides another interesting and unique character. It leaves one to wonder if the real Xerxes was actually like that. Also delivering a worthy performance is Vince Regan as Leonidas's right hand man, the captain.
Director Zack Snyder...thank you. This film is absolutely beautiful, including the actors. Every Spartan is chiseled like a statue, and the lone female character is beautiful as well. The battle scenes are extraordinary considering most of the film was shot on blue screen. The movie feels like a comic book in the camera angles and how at times the battles are shown in slow motion, especially when focusing on one character. The scenes are gory and very bloody, however, featuring a couple decapitations and the removing of limbs. Some of Xerxes' soldiers push fantasy and reality to the limit, especially The Immortals. The music is downright incredible as well, with a nice mix of soft tracks and of course, heavy metal battle sounds. It's a soundtrack you'll want to own as soon as the movie's finished. Snyder now has proved to the world that he can make one hell of a movie as far as entertainment goes. Every man in the world will enjoy this film and love it for months on end. Most women should like it as well, probably because every Spartan soldier, even the older ones, look in perfect physical condition. It's a tale of honor, freedom, and never, ever giving up. 300 is a masterpiece of epic proportions that shouldn't be missed for any reason. It is perfect.
10/10 --spy