Great effects don't make a great movie--not even close!

Rating: 4/10 (1 October 2007)

With all the hype and excitement around this movie, I was very much looking forward to seeing it. I had already handicapped the hype factor so as to not allow myself to go in with unrealistic expectations. First the good: "300" begins by setting the appropriate tone for the stark and savage culture in which the Spartans developed--warriors whom exist solely to kill their enemies and die glorious deaths. We get to see how King Leonidas first survives the warrior-selection process as a baby, then learns the art of combat from tough and unsympathetic tutors in preparation for his ascendancy to the thrown. Also, the special effects are fantastic. Unfortunately, that's it for the good. Now for the bad: While watching "300", the only thing that reminded me that I wasn't really viewing a computer game is the fact that computer games have better story lines! What made the movie so bad was that, after Leonidas kills the wolf to become a full Spartan warrior, the rest of the movie and dialogue are so completely incongruous to the starkness created at the beginning. The characters' speeches of fighting for freedom and rights--especially the "Captain" character lamenting that he never got to tell his son how much he truly loved him--were laughable and almost made me feel embarrassed for the film makers. If the writers had maintained the starkness of the characters ala "The Road Warrior" or "Blade Runner", I think "300" could've been included as one of those genre-defining classics. Instead, it struck me as a huge missed opportunity that will go down in cinematic history as a mere footnote about stylish effects. Too bad.