All style, and even the style is annoying

Rating: 4/10 (12 March 2007)

Okay, so the dialogue is lame, the battle scenes repetitive, and the tone heavy handed, but how about that art design? It's the film's saving grace, right? Actually, the style of the film is another source of annoyance. Everything is stylized to the point that the drama has no impact. The event the movie was based on needs no such embellishment. Think of how powerful the story would have been if shown in a gritty realistic way--a spartan way.
What attracts attention is the 300's gratuitous violence, but the real problem is its gratuitous slow motion. Twenty minutes could be shaved off this movie if the slo-mo is shown in real time.
The voice over narration--holy crapola. A sampler: "King Leonidas took off his helmet. His head felt cramped, trapped--a bit chafed around his ears. He put the helmet on the ground. It was the helmet that protected the head of the bravest, most rootinest tootinest king ever. Oh yeah, did I mention that these warriors protected freedom and that his head felt too big for the helmet? Maybe my constant gushing made his head to swell." Okay, that was not a direct quote, but--trust me-- the voice over was almost that awfully redundant.