Great film! Just know what to expect.

Rating: 10/10 (27 March 2007)

This movie was excellent in every way! I enjoyed the plot, the battles, the cinematography - everything. But here's the caveat - DON'T go this movie expecting a non-fiction work. This is based on a Frank Miller comic of the same title, which was inspired by his viewing of the 1962 movie 'The 300 Spartans'. If you think this is a historical recreation of actual events, you will be confused, lost and angry. My friend went to it thinking it would be more realistic a la 'Gladiator' and as a result, found himself unable to follow along. The Plot - Well written and well executed, this plot never got cheesy or inane. Grand themes all too often missing in modern movies are all here - true love, pride, liberty, the cost of freedom, bravery, selfless actions, nationalism, love of fellow man - all here. The violence - very graphic. If you saw Sin City, you can probably imagine how this movie dealt with the violence in the movie. This aspect was cool, but this is not likely appropriate for anyone under 16 or so - no matter how badly they want to see it, nobody needs some 10 year old getting nightmares. Limbs fly off, blood spurts, and we see people getting run through by multiple spears, heads cut off, etc. This was an important part of the movie though, so come prepared with the expectation of gore. The love story - fantastic. Even my girlfriend found it touching. I don't want to ruin the movie, but this queen certainly was a true queen, dedicated to her king and her country. This aspect was never cheesy, though there is one love making scene that was a bit over the top. The bad guy - Okay, Xerxes wasn't that tall and he wasn't effeminate. This movie uses him as a stereotype - the god/king of the Persian Armies who is really just evil to no end. However, when you have a story trying to contrast good versus evil, evil has to be obvious, so this too is forgivable. The special effects - this movie will likely win an award or two for the fantastic work done here. Slow mo scenes are awesome, CGI is virtually undetectable at times, and the whole movie was heavily reliant on the effects. For some reason, they couldn't get some of the animals quite right, but again - forgivable in light of the picture as a whole. All in all, I highly recommend this movie. It was fun to watch, had a gripping story, and people were actually clapping at times - whens the last time THAT happened in a theater? Loved it!