"300" (2006) - Movie Review

It is strange how blood shown at different circumstances brings out entirely different meaning to a presentation. I was constantly pestered with the spillage of meaningless blood in “Sin City”, from Frank Miller’s graphic novel and now the same shedding of blood from the very same creator in his other creation “300” taking the screens, brings in “glory” as it says. “300” directed by Zack Snyder is a close match presentation of the graphic novel by Frank Miller and his visuals on Battle of Thermopylae. It stars Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Vincent Regan and various other casts.

The film is how 300 Spartans led by their King Leonidas blocked the entry of the Persians into the Greek city states. It appears simply enough to explain the film in one sentence, but it is not. The film is how it has been presented. The adaptation of the comic which I can imagine would have given the exact idea of what needs to be put on the screen. The film kicks in with the narration of how Leonidas and rest of the other Spartan are brought up. They fight. Period. They are how the history has defined them as “Warriors”. The film is in the B.C and hence there is all chaos to acquire the world. It is time for acquiring land and wealth. It is the time when men were measured mostly by their sharpness of the sword along with their stable mind to execute it at the right moment. Leonidas is sent a messenger who appears more than a threaten by the Xerxes who informs Leonidas to surrender to him. Leonidas with calculated thought dismisses him, in a fashion anyone will dare to imagine that would happen to a messenger. With open invitation for war, he has some hesitations and his queen clarifies his definition of responsibility through freedom. Despite “bad omen”, he gathers 300 of his finest soldiers to block the entry of the Persians which leads to his city. The film then details and picturizes the battle of those 300 soldiers through out of the world graphics and visuals, the film world has experienced in recent days.

There needs to be no more appreciation than the trailers setting the standard on what to expect and the way they deliver it. “Sin City” exactly brought the comic book effect on to the screen but bringing something like that for this creation would have been more of erasing the significance of the content. It needs to be a nice blend of reality with some imaginative details and also within its limit. Since the viewers enter the movie hall expecting gore, they have stretched it a little bit more. It is agreeable since it is what it was. The difference between “Sin City” and “300” is that the situation plays a significant role in bringing out the red ness on screen. Moreover, there seem to be amazing justice done in showing those graphic details to pump the adrenaline in viewers when it is down. It assists them in imagining how it would have been for those brave soldiers to be in the midst of that shower of arrows. The entire technical department gets their attention in this film and I bow for their creative diligence to make this movie an experience.

As for the content, it is blood and rampage. The main point of freedom which has been presented in zillions of war movies takes its place out here too. It is another depiction of how “Freedom” inspires and values the human. This art work while may not preach the honour and values, the viewers will experience the meaning of sacrifice and courage. While it is pinching to learn that our ancestors were fighting for land and the war is still going on, the film peeks into the hearts of those men with spears.

Gerard Butler as Leonidas has knocked out the role. He brings in the frame and stature of a King. His smile and sharp eyes speaks louder than words. He is calm when he needs to and punches the screen when he needs to. He is a definite actor to watch for. The rest of the cast support him in all levels. There are some memorable performances for sure but Gerard takes the center stage and has cling to the character strongly.

The first one hour is gripping and chilling. The sequence of their first stand of 300 towards their enemies is brilliant and pumps the viewers’ blood. The film brought all the ingredients well for an entertainment in a total creative and new style in that one hour. After that, the viewers are over fed. Somewhere down the line the viewers gets used to the novel factor. Once the film reaches that point, there seems to be some uneasiness in the members of the audience. They want the movie to end and it is visible that the director wanted it too and got mildly out of the way. It is not the argument of having a different ending, since it is history and facts. It is the handling of it. The opening created so much display of treat; the film misses to capture the same momentum by a nano second. The urgency of the viewers is quite evident when I witnessed most of them got out of seat pretty fast. There was a difference in their reaction as I have seen for other movies.

Apart from that small glitch during the end, “300” is a must see. It is not recommended for its so-called preaching of courage or zest for war. It is suggested for its different movie making with respect to visual style and presentation. It is strongly recommended as it is an experience rather than a story.