The Official, Undeniable Setting of New Standards

Rating: 7/10 (10 March 2007)

I have never seen such battle sequences as riveting, emotionally engulfing, as wonderful as the ones that make up three hefty quarters of 300. For example, most epics have grandiose shots of men with shields and sharp weapons, seen from this perspective as a cacophony of blemishes, clashing together and fighting to the death. In 300, we are brought face to face with the very heart of the clashing itself, everything around us rumbling to a deafening degree, every clanking of heavy steel heard as clear as crystal, and we experience the true savagery and raw, bare-faced absence of any sort of grace, knowing each character's fear as much as they are feeling it. Each battle sequence draws pure hatred from us, the audience, for the enemies, and desperate worry for the defense of the three hundred Spartan men. The film is a lush, passionate painting of historical and fantastical violence. It provokes emotion, desperation, and teenage appreciation for its extreme cool.
The film sets new standards for cinematography. Seamlessly interwoven with computer- generated images, the grittiness, the chiseled, perpetually tan-gold-and-red-scorched screen is a wonder to look at. It's difficult to take your eyes away for any reason. As a lover of atmosphere in any art, being film, literature, paintings, et cetera, I found 300 to be incredibly juicy, oozing with some of the richest moods and visually emotional backdrops ever captured in a movie that I've seen. I have never seen a movie so in its own world and hypnotic to the audience, drawing us into this very unique place.
Gerard Butler, the dark, magnetic actor who plays the lead role of King Leonidas in a career- making performance, is almost as dazzling to watch as the landscapes and battle sequences. This film marks an inscrutable breakthrough for him. However, it is his presence that in a way may be what draws the sporadic corniness, mostly early on, of the Spartans being directed in a way that makes them cool in that way that makes pretenders out of teenagers.
It's always made me furious to see soldiers killing enemies' horses to immobilize the enemies. When the majority of the time is spent spearing men so that they fall off of their horses, it is made perfectly clear that there is not good reason to cut down a horse for the sake of immobilizing, and even having yet to kill, the rider. Also, If the Spartans' iron shields are not deterred by powerful attacks of enemy swords and spears, then how can arrows make gaping chinks in them?
Overall however, 300 is unforgettable. In a time when you forget even a great film that you saw last night once you've awakened the next morning, 300, while not a great film, is that brash and immediate contradiction.