Visually stunning, but ultimately disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (2 October 2007)

Any period piece runs the risk of historical inaccuracy, and if it's done in the interest of story and entertainment, it's largely forgivable. But when the movie makes its own mistakes glaring, well, that's harder to forgive.
There's no denying 300 is a remarkable achievement in many respects. It's a feast for the eyes, and its use of virtual environments to create a distinct look will no doubt influence filmmakers in the near future and beyond. It's also part of a trend of successful movies that lack a huge "brand name" star, which I think is positive; Hollywood has become over-reliant on its star system, to the point where the stars' private lives matter more than the films. That being said, Gerard Butler's performance is nuanced and charismatic; he deserves to be a star, and maybe 300 will be his breakout vehicle.
But for me, 300 eventually fell flat, and unfortunately, it undermined itself. My problem with the film boiled down to a key scene, the one depicting the initial meeting between Leonidas and Ephialtes.
*SPOILERS FOLLOW*
Leonidas explains why he can't use Ephialtes in the phalanx formation: the crippled shepherd cannot properly hold his shield to protect the man beside him, a vital requirement for a phalanx to work. Later, during the initial Persian attack, we see the Phalanx in action, and see Leonidas' words ring true.
And then everything falls apart.
Phalanx fighting was essentially a big shoving match that could often last hours, and that certainly wouldn't have provided Zack Snyder with the "cool" fight scenes he wanted and that the fans of the movie adore. Then the Spartans suddenly, with no clear reason other than to look cool, break out of their Phalanx formation and start fighting individually. And the Persians, who were so numerous and bunched so tight only a moment before, are suddenly spread out to provide the Spartans with easily disposed-of targets.
I could even have lived with that; I mean I've watched and enjoyed plenty of kung fu movies where the bad guys conveniently attack Bruce Lee one at a time. But here's the crux of the matter: the battle scenes undermine what Leonidas told Ephialtes. Leonidas himself admits the shepherd has skill with a spear. So he could have been behind the phalanx's front line, then set free to fight when everyone else abandoned formation. So suddenly the Spartan king's rejection of Ephialtes is reduced from a logical decision to a mere plot device, motivating the shepherd to betray his fellow Greeks to Xerxes.
This free-form fighting goes on to further undermine the film's emotional impact. The loss of the Captain's son should have been a huge emotional moment; the loss of the youth symbolizes a loss of hope and presages the Spartans' ultimate defeat. But the moment is emotionally empty. Dilios describes the Captain's reaction as "breaking formation" and going "blood-mad". But visually, he's only doing what all the other Spartans have already been doing, just with a little more passion. Breaking formation from the phalanx should indeed have been a big deal, but instead it's just another opportunity for cool moves and spurting blood.
I had other problems with the film as well, such as the depiction of the Persians as unrelentingly evil, corrupt, and even monstrous. Not for politically correct reasons, but for aesthetic ones. In the best war films there is some form of recognition that in the enemy is a reflection of ourselves. That's not possible here, though I'll grant that the source material has the same problem. The sub-plot with Queen Gorgo is a distraction from the main action and seems like an attempt by the filmmakers to do the politically correct thing and show a strong woman character in the film.
In the end, though, 300 undermines its own potential. It's great eye candy but not much more than that. I've heard that Steven Pressfield's novel of the Battle of Thermopylae, Gates of Fire, was under development as a feature film and that 300 preempted it. That's too bad; the novel is a much more accurate, and more importantly, emotionally-rich depiction of the story, and I would have much preferred to see it brought to the screen. Unfortunately, that's unlikely now for a long time to come.