![]() ![]() Character arcs are few and far between, the story often takes a backseat to Snyder’s visuals, and an uber-heightened reality permeates every shot and scene. Those unwilling to accept the film on its own terms will find it’s incredibly easy to pick it apart. It all results in a stirring third act that reveals just how much Sparta’s bravest heroes are willing to sacrifice for freedom. In Snyder’s biggest departure from Miller’s graphic novel, Leonidas’ queen (Lena Headey) is forced to deal with a corrupt politician (The Wire’s Dominic West) secretly working to convince the Spartan Council to surrender to the Persians. But the war isn’t just waged on the battlefield. With just three-hundred of his finest fighters, Leonidas marches against Xerxes to prove even a small band of Spartans is more dangerous than legions of enemy soldiers. Xerxes responds by sending his massive army to a thin sliver of beach and rock called the Hot Gates, the only tactical entranceway to Sparta. When a Persian envoy arrives in Sparta and demands allegiance, a brave king named Leonidas (Gerard Butler) kills the insolent messengers and sends word to the Persian ruler, Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), that his nation will never bow to foreign aggression. Make no mistake, 300 isn’t, and was never meant to be, a typical Hollywood production.Īs such, its story has been stripped of extraneous subplots and unnecessary exposition. ![]() Their skies are filled with the rage of gods, their grounds shake with the thundering approach of bewildering beasts. The filmmakers’ Spartans are a fearless race of tenacious freedom fighters, their Persian army an endless ocean of blood-thirsty warriors. Miller and Snyder’s Leonidas confronts monsters with the unwavering determination of Beowulf, scoffs at Xerxes with the confidence of Achilles, and leads his men with the cunning temperament of Odysseus. No, the young director focuses on one thing and one thing alone: crafting a legend that rings as true as the embellished literary epics of old. Snyder isn’t concerned with historical accuracy or the traditional mechanics of film, nor is he interested in spending too much time developing his admittedly one-note characters. ![]() Like Robert Rodriguez’s gut-punch-a-minute masterpiece, Sin City, 300 is a graphic novel come to life a visually arresting showstopper that effortlessly captures the static intensity, suspended momentum, and simmering fury of its comic-panel roots. Director Zack Snyder’s divisive sophomore outing, 300 (itself an adaptation of Frank Miller’s divisive comicbook miniseries), has been labeled many things but its harshest critics seem to have missed the point. ![]()
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March 2023
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