300

by Scott Gleine

 
Though it’s hardly the “landmark motion picture” that the cinephiles over at Maxim magazine proclaim it to be, 300 is still a unique and overall enjoyable cinematic experience.  Based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller (Sin City) and directed with a surplus of style and a shortage of substance by Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead remake), 300 provides a mythical re-telling of the battle of Thermoplyae, in which 300 Spartans went up against thousands upon thousands of Persians in a battle for freedom.

Visually, the film is absolutely stunning.  Now I’m pretty conflicted about the overuse of CGI in motion pictures.  On one hand, I think it takes away a certain “essence” of filmmaking that somewhat diminishes one’s enjoyment because it’s quite obvious that everything is digitally crafted.  But, in the case of something like 300, there really is no other way to tell the story, and the use of effects actually suits the story and adds to the overall mood of the picture.  The mood and atmosphere are probably the high points of 300.  Everything has an ominous, surreal tone to it, and somewhere along the way I became totally immersed in the world and started forgetting about the digital aspects.  The imagery, combined with the way in which the film is narrated by one of the Spartan soldiers (David Wenham, from the LOTR trilogy) really does make the experience feel like being involved in some sort of interactive graphic novel.  Adding to the surreal, mythological qualities of the piece are some pretty bizarre characters/creatures, including a hunchback, an ogre-like beast, and the 8 foot tall, jewelry-covered King Xerxes (one of the weirdest, most flamboyant villains in recent memory).  These baroque touches keep things interesting and also raise the stakes for the Spartans, making their task seem even more outrageous.  One of the best battle sequences pits the Spartans against the Immortals, masked freaks of nature that look like they just stepped out of the orgy party from Eyes Wide Shut and onto the battlefield.  Also worth noting on the visual side of things is Snyder’s manipulation of motion during battle sequences, frequently going between slow, fast, and normal motion throughout a given take.  It sounds like it could be annoying, and it does take some getting used to, but it gives an almost ballet-esque quality to the violence.  And Snyder sure does love a bit of the ol’ ultraviolence.  This film is quite brutal, but I found it to be so purposefully over the top and stylized that I was never really grossed out by it.

On the story side of things, there isn’t quite as much to praise.  Not that there isn’t some really well done stuff, but there just isn’t all that much happening other than the battles.  Gerard Butler gives an impressive, charismatic performance as King Leonidas, and it’s actually believable that these men would be willing to follow him into such an impossible battle.  Some time is devoted to developing a few of the soldiers and the payoffs to their arcs are quite predictable.  The remaining elements of the plot focus on Leonidas’s Queen (a superb Lena Headey) attempting to convince the dastardly politician Theron (Dominic West) to send reinforcements into battle while dealing with the potential loss of her husband and a few other complications all at once.  Headey handles the nuances well, and the role could have easily fallen flat without her strong performance.  She’s even given a pretty excellent payback scene late in the film that drew plenty of applause from the audience I saw the film with.  Apparently the film is highly faithful to its source material (a friend I saw it with has read the graphic novel) and the parts with the Queen and Theron were added in to flesh out the plot and give some sort of relief from the violent battles.  If that’s the case, then it’s a successful effort.

Overall, 300 is a success, something that doesn’t need to be taken too seriously, but should be appreciated for what it is.  There are many shots where I found myself saying, “oh, they just did that to look cool”, and it’s probably true, but it fits with the nature of the film.  And it does look quite cool, so in the end, I won’t complain all that much.  Like I stated before, don’t expect a whole lot of substance from 300.  It’s unapologetically stylish and is worth seeing just for the breathtaking, surreal imagery, as long as you can stomach all the blood.