300 Review - No Spoilers

When I first came across the trailer for 300, I thought the movie looked like a hyper-realistic version of Gladiator and was going to kick ass. I just got back from seeing it and thought it was pretty good for what I expected. I expected a visual tour de force with a thin plot and that's exactly what I got. Not worth full price, but I didn't want to wait for the DVD. The beginning is a bit slow although the story about how Spartan boys become Spartan men was interesting although I would have preferred it if the wolf didn't have glowing eyes, but I guess the film wasn't trying to be very realistic and was trying to follow the graphic novel scene by scene.

The best parts were certainly the fight scenes. The initial fight between the Spartans and Persian armies was choreographed and shot extremely well. However, there were a few things that I think could have made the film much better. First, some of the "monsters" must have been taken directly from the graphic novel and didn't translate so well onto the big screen. They were a bit over the top and one of them (with two swords for hands) was completely unnecessary. I think if they toned it down a bit, it would have been more realistic, but they obviously weren't going for realism. Another thing I thought was done poorly was a sub story involving the Queen and the Spartan council. It was pretty predictable and didn't really add anything to the movie. Finally, there were many ways that the ending could have been better, but again, it was following closely with the graphic novel. Overall, I think it's worth a rental as long as you don't expect anything other than a visual feast.