It’s Not the Size of It That Matters

By now y’all know that Zack (Dawn of the Dead) Snyder’s “spectacular” (yeah, I’m quoting myself) 300 made boffo box office business over the weekend (to the tune of $70 million), so I’m going to try and keep this short and sweet for the lot of you who may have yet to see the movie.

Before, though, click here to read Frank Miller’s take on the difference between his comic and the movie.

Alright, back yet? Cool.

A complex, dark, and lavishly violent recreation of the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae – where King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro, of TV’s Lost) and his massive Persian army – 300 is quite the visual treat.

The first 20 minutes are a bit of a drag, though.

With a tedious narration, 300 needlessly tries to establish itself as a serious pop corn action fantasy – a sort of Gladiator-meets-Tom of Finland, for the post- post- post-MTV generation, if you will.

But things pick up nicely once the action begins, the army of 300 looking mighty fine as they prepare for glory. The movie even paces its main plot with a humanizing, if predictable subplot about politics and the reasons for which Leonidas "really" goes to fight.

In any case, it is quite the spectacle to behold. It’s nice to see that, indeed, it is what you do with it that matters (the small army, that is, which, by the way, someone should send after this loudmouth), and to see Butler finally bask in some Hollywood glory.

My Rating ***

Photo: Warner Bros.