Leni Riefenstahl on crack

Rating: 2/10 (7 April 2007)

Seeing that most of the other commentators give a much higher score i guess i have to explain a little what is so deeply disturbing about this movie to me.
Its not the lack of anything that could be called a plot or the excessive violence, its the glorification of this violence with a new aesthetic(half naked muscular men killing heaps of enemy soldiers in slow motion in a graphic-novel-like, surreal color-scheme) and the disturbing way in which the movie never once questions the plainly stupid and dangerous views and values of its Spartan heroes and puts (is it really that glorious to start a war and then die for your pride, fatherland or whatever ?), even more, it seems to take itself completely serious while promoting this.
Now, some will say in defense of the movie that its based on a graphic novel so you shouldn't mind the platitudes and the excessive violence and just enjoy how well it is done, but frankly i cant agree with it. Usually these movies (like Sin City (at least partly), SAW, Constantine, or just your regular low quality splatter movie, all of which i enjoy a lot) come with a healthy dose of irony that will show clearly how to take the content and make the extremes bearable and even enjoyable. This is not the case with 300.
Watching the movie felt a lot like watching propaganda to me. Well made, some beautiful shots, but still propaganda with a stupid and dangerous agenda (hence my summary line).