Strong on style; weak on reason

Rating: Null/10 (17 March 2007)

I have to get something out of the way first. From the two movies I watched back to back in two days, there is enough blood to fill Lake Ontario. Done! (Oh yes, the other one is "Hannibal rising").
Frank Miller fans who have been so pleased with how faithfully "Sin City" has replicated the graphic novel (some even calls it just the animation of the novel, with a few real actors thrown in) will note that for "300", the movie makers have taken considerably more liberty in adapting. But then, the original graphic novel is itself an adaptation from real history.
While the main attraction of this movie is its stunning visual style, I do wish to point out some ironies before we store our brains away and sit back to enjoy. The irony is that the same hero who claims to be defending civilization and reason kills an emissary on the mere pretext of the latter's discourteous words. You would be hard pressed to find an act more barbaric. But this is good: it serves as a timely reminder that this movie is so one-dimensional that whatever the "heroes" do is right. The audiences that have recently winced at a scene in "Letters from Iwo Jima" where an American Marine shoots a surrendered Japanese soldier are unlikely to have the same reaction in witnessing the Spartan heroes gleefully thrusting their spears, en mass, through the heart of wounded soldiers lying on the battlefield. This mean only that such audiences are taking "300" for what it is.
Let us therefore move along to the visuals, which should be your only reason for watching this movie. Never has slaughters in battle been made to look so stylishly beautiful. As appetizer comes the first encounter which reminds me of the line of scrimmage in an NFL game. By sheer brutal force, the line of Spartans and shield holds back the seemingly unstoppable momentum of the onslaught of the first wave of Persian attack. While the evil attackers fall under the mighty thrust of the spears, their wielders are entirely unscathed  another thought association: "a wicked thrust, it's dust to dust; from fore to aft, they feel a draft" in Guenevere's witty lyrics in Camelot (1967) turns out to be an apt description of the scene. Next comes the Persian cavalry, which is disposed of with equal ease by the famous wedge formation. The third wave is a little more intimidating, the ghostly "immortals" plus a ghastly giant. That requires a little more work but at the same time provides King Leonidas an opportunity to shine.
After a brief time out, we are treated to huge beast with trunks that might have been on loan from "The Return of the King". By this time, the audience's thirst for blood should have been brought to a height. What follows is a sequence that I think is the highlight of the entire move. Through a skillful mix of slow and fast motion, we are shown how the "300" disposes of their opponents as if they were straw men, with limbs and heads flying around at will, and a rain of blood splashing on the screen in a glorious crimson.
But then the tide begins to turn as we see the first Spartan casualty. Standing in the midst of a sea of slaughtered enemies and bathing in glory, a young hero fails to notice the approach of a stealth and swift horse, carrying a deadly rider. Before we have a chance to blink, we witness the fall, in very slow motion, of his headless body. This is the son of the King's most loyal captain who, at the start of the march, told the King that his son "can be replaced" if lost in battle.
Some say that there is so much CGI that they may as well not have actors in this movie, but I don't agree. The fact that the real actors are acting almost entirely in front of a blue screen does not mean that they are not real. Gerard Butler, who did not impress me as The Phantom (but did quite well as The Stranger in "Dear Frankie" (2004)), is an impressive King Leonidas, with his raw power and determination. Also good, as the warrior queen, is Lena Headey who had a reasonably good role in "The cave" (2005) but was underused in "The Brothers Grimm" (2005). What I really love is the performance of David Wenham (a very memorable Faramir in LOTR) that gave me something to remember, in the last scene of this movie. Playing the sly traitor is Dominic West whom I have just seen yesterday in "Hannibal rising", as the French inspector. The acting in this movie is generally fine, on the one-dimension level.