Entertaining and visually stunning

Rating: 8/10 (11 April 2007)

What to expect when you go to this movie? Visuals. Beautiful, stunning, mind boggling visuals. And some extremely thrilling scenes, too - I sat at the tip of my seat from the moment the fight starts right up to the end. This movie is all about the spectacle and I'm afraid some of the people that gave this movie a lousy review really didn't get that. There isn't very much character-development, no, but somehow, that didn't quite surprise me... This being a movie with posters including roaring Spartans, bloodstains all over and tag lines such as "Tonight we dine in hell!".
You have to be aware of the fact that this movie is shot from the view of the only surviving Spartan from the battle, being sent away by his king to tell the story of the battle that was fought by him and his brothers in arms. This might put the way the Persians were portrayed in a different perspective: they are described from the eyes (or, in this case, eye) of the beholder and the beholder, in this case, was ready to fight these Persians to the death to defend what was dear to him (hence, perhaps, the 'racism'??). Another big point of criticism: Xerxes, the Persian king, acts like a transvestite, people say. True, but have none seen any reason in this? In this movie, Xerxes doesn't aim to be a mere king.. He aims to be a God. So he acts ànd looks like one: the Hindu-God Shiva, to be precise. If this doesn't ring a bell, look up some pictures of ancient Shiva-statues and see what I mean. The God-king is made to look like Shiva and even his throne is dedicated to the portrayal of this.
In my opinion, this movie succeeded in almost every possible way in doing what it means to do: it's stunning, exciting, tells a great tale of heroism and leaves you hungry for more. If you're looking for character-development, sentiment or a VERY accurate record of what happened some 2500 years ago, look elsewhere. But if you're looking to be entertained in the most awesome way imaginable, this one's definitely the one for you.
Upsudes: Visuals, very exciting, great story, accurate enough to the main details of the real events, fantastic costumes and sets.
Downsides: Some effects look a bit cheesy, the guy in charge of the slow-motion might have been a little too enthusiastic, if you expect too much of this movie, you'll probably be disappointed.
8/10