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The Detroit Free Press (one of the great American papers) reviews are usually a lot closer than hacks like Ebert etc.
Detroit Free Press review....
* * * * (of 4)
Detroit Free Press review....
* * * * (of 4)
The few, the proud, the Spartans
'300' turns heroic Battle of Thermopylae into a computer-enhanced visual thrill ride
For once, the Larry King quote machines who supply the advance blurbs to the studio for their marketing campaigns will be correct.
"300" is the first great movie of 2007, as well as the most muscular example yet of how computer technology can be used to enhance a story instead of just tarting it up.
"300" is based on the legend of Sparta, the Greek city-state where the finest warriors in the world were bred. (A prologue showing us how this was accomplished leads one to imagine there must have been a lot of 7-year-old runaways from Sparta, but never mind.) The Spartan men who survived defended their freedom from Persian conquerors at history's most epic standoff, the Battle of Thermopylae. There, the 300 men of the title fought, to the last man, against a quarter million soldiers.
The tale has been told many times, many ways, but the way it is told in "300" is in the style of the graphic novel of the same name by artist Frank Miller. Some of the film's most astonishing scenes are staged by director Zack Snyder exactly as they were drawn in Miller's comic. Miller was also the creator of the violent and sexual film noir fantasy "Sin City" (as well as the Batman rethink "The Dark Knight") and was credited as codirector of the film version of "Sin City."
Its primary appeal was to fanboys and comic book collectors who reveled in seeing one of their favorite titles faithfully rendered, but "300" will appeal to mainstream moviegoers. It is a classically told tale of courage and sacrifice, one that is visually stunning.
As with "Sin City," the actors -- including Gerard Butler as blustery King Leonidas, Lena Headey as his supportive and sensuous queen and Dominic West as the manipulative politician Theron -- did their emoting against a blue screen.
All the backgrounds, from Sparta's interiors and exteriors to the gloriously rugged mountain bottleneck where Leonidas conspires to trap his enemies, were filled in later by artists. It allowed them to create a hyper-stylized past that is alternately harsh and breathtakingly beautiful.
The Spartans all have the immaculately ripped torsos of supermen. The withered, diseased Ephors are nightmarishly repulsive as they ogle the Playmate-proportioned Oracle Girl (Kelly Craig). And the deformed outcast Ephialtes (Andrew Tiernan) is somehow made more human by a grotesque rendering that could probably not be achieved by even the finest of Hollywood makeup artists.
As for Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), the Persian general-king who has declared himself a god on earth, he certainly looks to be not of this earth: Glammed up like the sexually ambiguous Pharaoh of Pluto -- or at least the Pluto float in the Intergalactic Gay Day Parade -- he shimmers when he descends from his slave-powered traveling Casbah, an effect that is superbly skin-crawling
The first section of the film has Leonidas confronted by the Persian emissary who delivers the news that Sparta must surrender its autonomy or be crushed. Leonidas quickly disregards the don't-kill-the-messenger rule. His strong commitment -- romantic and instinctual -- to the equally defiant and brave queen is also made evident here, most obviously in some of the most erotic lovemaking seen in any Hollywood film in a long time.
The rest of "300" is given to Leonidas' decision to take his 300 finest warriors on a "stroll" to the mountains, the ensuing and treacherous trek to the battlefield he has chosen and to the battles of the three-day stand.
The script draws from historical and mythological accounts, albeit filtered through Miller's fantastical imagination. As his vision builds in intensity and savagery, crazed giants, maniacal beasts and a lumbering contingent of elephants must be dealt with by the strongest, the most skilled and, above all, the most committed to the freedom of man.
None of this is subtle. Butler, who is clearly in possession of all the magnetism that was woefully absent in his work in "The Phantom of the Opera," is a classic and uncomplicated hero to root for, while West is a hiss-worthy villain. The battles are bloody and gory, but rousing and righteous. The advertising tag line for "300" is taken from Leonidas' famous call to his troops: "Prepare for glory." The moviegoer must only prepare to be wowed.
'300' turns heroic Battle of Thermopylae into a computer-enhanced visual thrill ride
For once, the Larry King quote machines who supply the advance blurbs to the studio for their marketing campaigns will be correct.
"300" is the first great movie of 2007, as well as the most muscular example yet of how computer technology can be used to enhance a story instead of just tarting it up.
"300" is based on the legend of Sparta, the Greek city-state where the finest warriors in the world were bred. (A prologue showing us how this was accomplished leads one to imagine there must have been a lot of 7-year-old runaways from Sparta, but never mind.) The Spartan men who survived defended their freedom from Persian conquerors at history's most epic standoff, the Battle of Thermopylae. There, the 300 men of the title fought, to the last man, against a quarter million soldiers.
The tale has been told many times, many ways, but the way it is told in "300" is in the style of the graphic novel of the same name by artist Frank Miller. Some of the film's most astonishing scenes are staged by director Zack Snyder exactly as they were drawn in Miller's comic. Miller was also the creator of the violent and sexual film noir fantasy "Sin City" (as well as the Batman rethink "The Dark Knight") and was credited as codirector of the film version of "Sin City."
Its primary appeal was to fanboys and comic book collectors who reveled in seeing one of their favorite titles faithfully rendered, but "300" will appeal to mainstream moviegoers. It is a classically told tale of courage and sacrifice, one that is visually stunning.
As with "Sin City," the actors -- including Gerard Butler as blustery King Leonidas, Lena Headey as his supportive and sensuous queen and Dominic West as the manipulative politician Theron -- did their emoting against a blue screen.
All the backgrounds, from Sparta's interiors and exteriors to the gloriously rugged mountain bottleneck where Leonidas conspires to trap his enemies, were filled in later by artists. It allowed them to create a hyper-stylized past that is alternately harsh and breathtakingly beautiful.
The Spartans all have the immaculately ripped torsos of supermen. The withered, diseased Ephors are nightmarishly repulsive as they ogle the Playmate-proportioned Oracle Girl (Kelly Craig). And the deformed outcast Ephialtes (Andrew Tiernan) is somehow made more human by a grotesque rendering that could probably not be achieved by even the finest of Hollywood makeup artists.
As for Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), the Persian general-king who has declared himself a god on earth, he certainly looks to be not of this earth: Glammed up like the sexually ambiguous Pharaoh of Pluto -- or at least the Pluto float in the Intergalactic Gay Day Parade -- he shimmers when he descends from his slave-powered traveling Casbah, an effect that is superbly skin-crawling
The first section of the film has Leonidas confronted by the Persian emissary who delivers the news that Sparta must surrender its autonomy or be crushed. Leonidas quickly disregards the don't-kill-the-messenger rule. His strong commitment -- romantic and instinctual -- to the equally defiant and brave queen is also made evident here, most obviously in some of the most erotic lovemaking seen in any Hollywood film in a long time.
The rest of "300" is given to Leonidas' decision to take his 300 finest warriors on a "stroll" to the mountains, the ensuing and treacherous trek to the battlefield he has chosen and to the battles of the three-day stand.
The script draws from historical and mythological accounts, albeit filtered through Miller's fantastical imagination. As his vision builds in intensity and savagery, crazed giants, maniacal beasts and a lumbering contingent of elephants must be dealt with by the strongest, the most skilled and, above all, the most committed to the freedom of man.
None of this is subtle. Butler, who is clearly in possession of all the magnetism that was woefully absent in his work in "The Phantom of the Opera," is a classic and uncomplicated hero to root for, while West is a hiss-worthy villain. The battles are bloody and gory, but rousing and righteous. The advertising tag line for "300" is taken from Leonidas' famous call to his troops: "Prepare for glory." The moviegoer must only prepare to be wowed.
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