300 Not Deep, Just Awesome

Rating: 9/10 (28 November 2007)

This movie gets a lot of a flak and I don't know why. People from wherever claimed that it had some political agenda, or that it was racist, or heaven forbid, it was historically inaccurate. Anything but that! It is a movie made by Zack Snyder, director of the Dawn of the Dead remake, and Frank Miller, creator of Sin City. I don't mean to make them sound like dolts or anything, but I feel like these two men are less concerned with politics than they are with telling a thrilling story in a cool way.
In case you don't know by now, 300 is the story of 300 Spartan soldiers who fought to defend Greece from a Persian invasion. It's been told before in Fox classic The 300 Spartans, which allegedly informed Miller's writing more than the actual history of Greece. While that movie is a pretty standard swords and sandals epic, 300 is a product of the digital film-making revolution. All but a few shots were filmed on a green screen set and CG is used heavily to create gigantic armies and moments pulled straight from the original graphic novel. But perhaps the movie is best known for inspiring thousands of men across the world to hit the gym a little more often. (I know I did after seeing this.) The 300 are made to look Herculean, like textbook alpha males with arms wider than my waist. They strut around in leather diapers and red capes, smack-talking the "boy lovers" in Athens, and likely smacking each other with wet towels when the camera isn't looking. Some call it homophobic or homo-erotic, depending on who's doing the talking. I call the 300 basically a big football team with spears. You will not see more slapped asses than during the Superbowl.
Much has been made of the movies political leanings too. Some say the Spartan army, fighting for freedom against a Middle Eastern enemy, represents our forces currently fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then some others say that it's the god-king Xerxes and his innumerable forces that stand for the religious George W. Bush and the Christian conservatives he seems to command. I guess then, the Spartans are the American people pushing back tyranny and mysticism. I don't know. People choose to see their personal politics in this movie like people see their future in palm readings. When something (like astrology or 300) can mean so many things all at once, it ceases to mean anything. And that's all right with me. 300 is a rock 'em sock 'em movie with incredible visuals, great fight choreography, and a simple but strong story. I believe this is what Snyder and Miller intended to create - nothing more, nothing less. It's a direct movie that tells its audience what to feel and think outright. If you see anything lurking below the surface, it is merely a reflection of your own fears. Because like a mirror, 300 has no depth.
That sounds too negative to say about a movie I like so much. All I'm saying is come for the great action, stay for some cool dialogue ("Give them nothing, but take from them everything!"), and then leave it all behind. If there is a message within the movie, it's merely that we should stand up for what we believe in. Seems fairly obvious...
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