Less Macho, More Drama Than Expected

Rating: 8/10 (4 April 2007)

I'll be posting most of what I have to comment in the comments section. Here, all I have to say, is that it delivers.
The visual effects work perfectly, soundtrack is awesome and acting spot-on. The combat choreography is one of the best I've ever seen. However, the movie suffers from an unevenly paced plot, and several shots could've been better. Especially the ending was very bland, considering the raging macho attitude with which the movie started.
300 tries to balance between aggressive gory war / combat action, and with some deeper-than-life drama. While this might win the acceptance of a larger audience, for me it just didn't work out. The result is an uneven movie that feels just a tad bit unfinished. It's still good, but it could've been so much better with a few minor improvements. Several scenes don't make as much sense as they should even according to the world's own realism, and some script decisions were plain bad from the viewer's point of view, needlessly making things more complicated and / or reducing the emotional charge that was needed. This is especially obvious in the end, unfortunately.
I recommend it, in any case.