Great Fun Movie!!

Rating: 8/10 (2 July 2008)

OK i don't actually bother to review movies that much on here. But after reading through some of these comments i feel i have to. As some people have stated, this movie will probably not be for everyone...but i'd say thats the case for most movies.
Ignore all the comments you may read about political agendas and viewpoints, racism and other nonsense from some of the reviews and remember that this film is based off a comic written before Bush came to power and before the recent war in Iraq! Yes the Spartans are portrayed as mighty warriors, all muscle and brawn...but thats how the comic showed them. Yes the Persians are portrayed as decadent, monstrous and well, plain evil...but thats what they were like in the comic. It's not some hidden racist views, just the bad guys of the movie been made to look bad! Or if you will, it's how the Spartans describe them in the retelling of the story, whichever you prefer.
And please don't get lost in the many comments about historical facts....it's based on a comic, which itself is only "based" on the event. Sure the Spartans weren't the only Greeks present, but they were the only ones, along with 700 Thespians that stayed to the end to die. And as for people complaining about blacks and Asians being present in the Persian army...do they have any idea how many different countries contributed soldiers to the Persian army??? Apparently not.
So on to the only things you SHOULD consider about this movie. The first thing is..are you interested in a graphic novel on the big screen??? If not, then don't bother!!! You won't get much depth, or character development, in this one at least.
The movie looks absolutely gorgeous, im my opinion, and matches very well with the comic. All the negative comments about the overuse of certain colours...you guessed it, it's the comics fault. The film has been created, to my mind, so that every scene feels like art from a comic!
The dialogue and acting?? The acting is good, and Gerald Butler portrays King Leonidas great and accurate, again to the comic version. The dialogue is minimal and banterish (i think i made that word up) but doesn't detract from the movie. And they use many of the well know sayings that came from this battle! (I can't believe someone talked about historical accuracy but then continued to slag the "Spartans! Enjoy your breakfast, for tonight we dine in hell" line).
What it all boils down to is this...THIS IS A MOVIE VERSION OF A GRAPHIC NOVEL...the novel has very little speech, it's about visuals and is being narrated. If you can suspend your belief, lock away your vast historical knowledge, and just watch this for what it is you will enjoy it. It's a film about one event, with a fictional side story. It's a film about one battle with slow motion bits in it, though different from most slow motion scenes. And thats it...nothing else to it...it's entertainment.
If none of this appeals to you, if you need your films to have some deep meaning, or you need all your films to run along some pretentious idea then don't watch it. Other wise enjoy a great, fun, exciting movie.