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| Thursday, September 6, 2007
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"300" Review |
GRADE: C+
A popcorn film is a summer action film, not monumental, that is a good waste of time, I repeat, a GOOD waste of time. “300” had elements of intrigue, amazement, beautiful cinematography, and despicable death scenes to boot. This version of the historical story of the 300 Spartans from Sparta is the most modern up to date film loaded with CGI (computer generated imagery) special effects. It contains buffed out men who fight for their country willing to die even when immensely outnumbered. The film that inspired a crew to make this film was in 1962 titled “The 300 Spartans.” “300” is a typical film made for the MTV generation, fans of graphic novels, and the vast amount of video game fanatics that enjoy cinematic violence.
“300” was made by Warner Brothers Pictures in association with Legendary Pictures and Virtual Studios. The MPAA kindly gave this movie an R rating for graphic battle sequences, some sexuality, and nudity. It is based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. He also wrote the famous “Sin City,” and put his own spin on the historical story of “300” that is loaded with a lot more violence and appeal for the generation from nowadays. Frank Miller got the drive to pursue this story from many viewings of the 1962 film “The 300 Spartans.” The music for “300” was beautifully orchestrated and perceived by Tyler Bates, who is fairly new but is on his way to bigger and better films. He has the drive and potential to be up with other big names on a high award level. The film’s screenplay, which didn’t take much work having a detailed graphic novel to base off of, was written by Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, and Michael B. Gordon. The film had an incredibly huge cast some may not know by name but each actor gave his all with the parts they were so generously given. The cast includes; Gerard Butler (from the new “Phantom of The Opera” ), Lena Headey (from “Gossip”), David Wenham (as Faramir in “The Lord of the Rings” films), and Dominic West (from the new “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”). And, last but not least, the film was directed by newly found sensation Zack Snyder who directed a well received remake of “The Dawn Of the Dead”.
“300” takes place in 480 BC, when the Persian king Xerxes sends his enormous army to defeat Greece. The Greek city of Sparta raises supreme warriors, and 300 of them are chosen to fight for Sparta to overthrow the Persians at Thermopylae. They go to war knowingly they will be outnumbered, but are willing to die to keep Sparta amongst the Greek. The battle is basically a suicide mission, meant to give time to the rest of the Greek forces to prepare for the insurmountable invasion. This doesn’t phase the Spartans from giving the war their all, heavily determined to take as many Persians down with them as possible.
“300” isn’t a film that is likely to be noticed for awards other than maybe an MTV Movie Award or any caliber award for its use of special effects used to perfection. It was nominated in roughly 5 categories in the MTV Movie Awards and won for Best Fight for Gerard Butler’s King Leonidas battle with an Immortal creature. I felt, at times, mesmerized and in the moment with Tyler Bates’ use of music but believe this is not his best work. I sense his masterpiece in music is yet to come. This film is nothing more than a good time away from life and nothing more. The only other element this picture had, other than its great use of blue screen and green screen, was its gorgeous locations and cinematography. I believe that even the cinematographer and/or director went a bit overboard with themselves in creating a huge wall that is made up of dead bodies. It is award worthy for its amazing special effects but I can’t get myself to say anything worthy of this movie more than that.
“300” was loaded with extensive trivia and interesting facts in making this movie. First, this film, made visibly on a great scale, was shot in just 60 days. Next, Frank Miller wanted the male’s of the film to have the same look as in his graphic novel, so he demanded them to spend the majority of their screen time bare-chested. In order to efficiently present themselves as a well-trained fighting force of the time, the entire principal cast endured a rigorous training schedule for 6 weeks before shooting were to begin. Also, in the well shot and planned scene of the Oracle and its elegant flowing effect was oddly accomplished by filming the actress underwater. Lastly, with Zack Snyder being mostly in charge of this film he took it upon himself to cast his own flesh and blood son to play Young Leonidas as a child. In closing, I’d suggest this film to those that consider themselves a part of the MTV generation or are just fans of special effects used to create a very video game like blood splatter effect. It is all of the above, gratuitous violence, decapitations, lost limbs, and just all out brutality in its finest; if you’re a fan of that. |
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posted by Noel's Movie Reviews 5:11 PM
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I totally agree. I may have given it a bit higher grade, but the sentiment is the same. Basically, a whole movie summed up by saying, "Those guys want to invade us. We're going to block this path or die trying."
Well-written review.