300 - Movie Review
4"300" (2006) directed by Zack Snyder is a rare gem in Snyder's generally awful track record.
King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) illegally takes 300 Spartan warriors from his home to make a brave but mad final stand which will result in certain death. The reason for this is because a tyrant named Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) who considers himself a god demands tribute and obedience from everyone in the world, but Sparta will bow to no man. While Leonidas and his men take on the huge outnumbering Persian army, his wife Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) pleas to the council to send reinforcements and support Leonidas' cause. One of the 300, Dilios (David Wenham), is chosen as the sole survivor should they face annihilation so that he can report back the glories of their battle and hopefully convince the politicians to agree to war and send the rest of the armies.
300 is an extremely badass movie, obviously. I really liked the costume choices here, even as a straight man those speedos had me questioning at times I won't lie. The action is essentially perfect and Snyder actually holds back on the slow motion for once and instead uses it sparingly to enhance actual special moments like it should be. Xerxes is an underrated historical and movie villain in my opinion and is portrayed amazingly here.
The film has a short list of issues but there are definitely some. The slow motion sex scene left me laughing and was unnecessary, as is the borderline rape / adultery scene later on. The queen and her political shenanigans did not intrigue me at all, but thankfully it wasn't switching too frequently. I don't quite understand why mutants and supernatural abilities / sorcery are such a prevalent thing in this considering neither are real and not historically accurate, and lastly I'll play military tactician for a second here and point out that the Spartans will sometimes not follow Leonidas' battle plan and will leave themselves vulnerable and exposed to enemy attacks, most often towards the end of the film, which I'm assuming is either for dramatic effect or because the movie needs them to die, but it looked a bit silly when they would completely abandon formation and go on solo war paths.
300 is epic. Enough said.
Video by Rainy Nights.
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