Worth watching but poor acting and directing foil what could have been a classic war movie

Rating: 7/10 (16 March 2007)

Clearly, this film is not for everyone. The film looks utterly fantastic, but the reality is, this is a failed attempt at a breakthrough film. The battle scenes are magnificent; in fact I can't remember seeing a more interesting film about ancient war. Now before the fan boys pile on, ask yourself honestly about the poor acting, horrible directing and quite possibility the worst voice over ever heard in a movie and why it really put a damper on the party for some. I know people will disagree and say that it was supposed to be over the top and that is fine, but I think even less dialogue would have improved this film. Everything was drilled home in 50 point block letters and subtlety was completely abandoned. People in the Imax I saw this film with were eating up the endless catchphrases. Well, that's showbiz... I guess.
As a comic book movie, this was mission accomplished. Great villains, amazing action sequences that stylistically were like a dance and really, really bloody battles make this an action film for fans of the genre. And these elements reach right in and pull this movie out of the fire. And while I was not bothered by the no-name cast, the direction of these actors was bordering on criminal behavior. The over use of slow motion and not mixing up the technique really marred the overall product that was provided to the viewer. It really started to seem like a music video. Don't get me wrong, there were some amazing movie moments in this film, but the eye rolling at the ham fisted words really detracted from the movie as an overall piece of art it could have been. If Zack Snyder is really going to direct Alan Moore's the Watchmen, he needs to go and look up the words subtle and substance before he utters "action" even the first time during filming.
Much has been said about if Synder was trying to slip a conservative message into the film and a lot of things could be read or misread from this. Believe me, he wasn't that smooth. In my opinion it was a not so subtle way of portraying the hawk-like nature of the Spartan culture is ultimately what was being conveyed and not a slipped jab to eastern Asian culture as some have implied. But take what you will from the "they ask you to stand and I ask you kneel" remarks of Xerxes. That is the rhetoric of rulers and warriors and it's not always pretty. A lot of items in this film can have modern day parallels drawn. But ultimately it is just a movie. Relax. Followers of Islam should relax, Islam didn't even exist during this time.
I guess for me personally, the worst part about this film is how much potential was wasted. This is an amazing legend that could have really been translated into something we would remember for a long time, had some actor directing skill and improved dialogue, this could have been a masterpiece. I love and hate this film at the same time.