300
Prepare for glory

// The skinny: When Sparta refuses to submit to King Xerxes, he brings the entire weight of his Persian army down on 300 elite soldiers who attempt to hold them off.

// Review: The hype machine had been churning on this movie and I was trying to beat off the expectations like they were zombies clawing at my door. I went in expecting a cool looking fictional revisioning of this historical tale, and I was totally satisfied.

/ The story isn't too complex. King Leonidis and his special forces try to defend the narrow path to Sparta while the Persians toss wave after wave of bizarre hordes at them. It was sort of like watching a live action movie of the video game God of War. There was also a sub-plot back in the city which was a nice respite from the action and not too distracting because all of the acting was really good.

/ The visual style was fantastic and the fighting was intentionally over the top. I loved how there were 1-2 seconds of sudden slow motion during the battles. You really get a sense of the fighting instead of the action seemingly like a Lord of the Rings chaotic CGI mash up. There was some gratuitous boobage but it was all more suggestive than graphic. Probably the most striking thing was all of the man flesh. It was ridiculous how all of the chiseled Spartans had carved 8 packs including the old people.

// Wrap up: A very unique looking high concept action flick with surprisingly sold acting. Oftens rides the line between visual assualt and visual feast.

Entertainment rating: 4