"300"? More like $300million in box office domestically.

Rating: 8/10 (12 March 2007)

This isn't The Godfather or Close Encounters or United 93, but it is what it is and that is (not that Bill Clinton would ever understand what "is" is) one helluva kickass sandal, sword and splatter pic that is FUN to watch ON a BIG SCREEN.
Whatever Hollywood rocket scientist decided to leave director Zack Snyder alone to make his and his marvelous crews' vision come to life GOT IT RIGHT! The only stupid thing about 300 is the rock soundtrack which is mostly lost amid all the mayhem (thank you for mostly burying it, sound editors, mixers, whatever!).
The actors deliver all their lines with gusto. Gerard Butler is totally believable as King Leonidas/Leader of the Spartans (imagine if Oliver Stone had cast him as Alexander?) And the women and children characters make strong impressions as well.
BUT let's face it I went to see this film for its LOOK. It looks fantastic and feels it too. (Last year's X-MEN 3 sent me out of the theatre with the same sort of good charged buzz although X3 is a better pic). The "slow parts" are entertaining. GLADIATOR died when Russell Crowe wasn't on the screen. 300 doesn't die when Butler is off the screen which he isn't very often.
The violence and gore is abundant but never gratuitous. It is so stylized and over-the-top that I never winced once from watching it. James Cameron and Paul Verhoeven and Tony Scott stage such bloodletting similarly. Snyder knows how to thrill without sickening.
DEFINITELY NOT FOR KIDS.
If you bring a child into 300 then you are a SICKO (go back and wallow in your Saw and Hostel and Hills Have Eyes gorno-crap and get sterilized -- please do the human race a favor)!
I can't say that I loved this pic, but, WOW!, I like it lot and more than I liked THE DEPARTED.
Hey Zack, will this mean they'll greenlight WATCHMEN? (Be a bit more careful with the screenplay because you got Chris Nolan's BATMAN to live up to.)