Rating of
3/4
Testosterone on Film
Chris Kavan - wrote on 08/09/07
What starts off slow, continue to build and build until you feel like you should be on the front lines, spearing some hapless opponent. With battle after bloody battle coming at you, you can't help but get caught up in the action.
Zack Snyder, who caught my attention with a a better than expected Dawn of the Dead remake, proves that he knows a good action scene and he isn't afraid to make it over-the-top bloody with flying limbs and decapitations. 300 doesn't lack for getting the blood pumping. Whether it's a rhino running full speed or a writhing, near-nude "oracle" the scenes in 300 never fail to visually impress.
However, much like Dawn of the Dead, the only thing 300 truly lack is a soul. Besides the ever-present and fearless King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and his loving, yet also fearless wife (Lena Headey) - almost all other characters in 300 are nameless entities that serve only to die either, usually in the glory of battle (on one side or the other, it matters little). A father and son amongst the 300, a deformed ex-Spartan trying to regain his families honor, a conniving politician, even the evil god-king Xerses - all get screen time, but they just don't resonate.
Still, even with the less-than-spectacular emotion, 300 works because it gets the blood flowing and the fists pumping. That's an emotion anyway - it may be the only one, but it's truly powerful.
