// 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.