Innovative visuals give "300" unique appeal

Rating: 8/10 (16 January 2008)

If you think about it, "300" really is very little more than ripped men in loincloths cracking one-liners and killing everything in sight despite the fact that it's obvious that they all will die. What give it its appeal, however, is the way that a story that could be told like any other classic world war film (maybe "Spartacus" is a good example here?) is told with a unique 21st century twist.
In actuality, to be fair, the movie is based on a graphic novel of the same title and tells the story of King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and how he rounded up 300 men to fight the Persian empire who was planning on taking over all of Greece and how the principle was more important than the obvious outcome of the battle.
What director Zack Snyder does is give the film a more artsy look, something more focused on images and contrasting light and dark. The result is a somewhat superficial look, but that's the idea. The story is told from the one man (David Wenham from "Lord of the Rings") who is personally asked by Leonidas to go back to Sparta and tell the story before they all end up dying. He of course, trying to convince the rest of Sparta to fight, glorifies the telling. It is an incredibly wise choice then, for Snyder to glorify the telling in the movie, with excessive blood, slow motion and a variety of strange middle eastern music. The actors are mostly British or Scottish to seem more classic (if "Gladiator" can pick Russell Crowe, "300" is allowed) so clearly the goal is to be over the top. Butler, by the way, gives a commanding performance that with a more serious film would warrant much praise.
Without these choices, Snyder would have a boring piece of unmolded clay on his hands. He brings the life into the film. It's not remarkable nor should it be award-winning, but it certainly is entertaining and proof that there is more than one way to shoot an epic war movie. If "300" was trying to be more than cool or even just cool with a proved formula, Warner Bros. would have released it in December or over the summer. Instead it's a breakthrough in unique film-making.