 |
|
|
|
300 (***) |
|
|
Movie Review by:
Jim "Good Old JR" Rutkowski
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Written by: Michael Gordon (II), Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad. Adapted from
the graphic novel by Frank Miller & Lynn Varley
Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Michael Fassbender,
Running time: 116 minutes
Released: 03/08/07
Rated R for graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and
nudity. |
|
"300 may not offer
masterful storytelling in a conventional sense, but it's
hard to beat as a spectacle and that makes it worthwhile
viewing."
|
|
|
In terms of stylistic overkill, the new
big screen adaptation of Frank Miller’s uber-violent graphic novel
“300” ranks right up there with “Moulin Rouge.” Where Baz Luhrmann’s
movie musical was overflowing with ripe emotion, though, “300” is a
bombastic and cold affair, not unlike watching the story sequences
between levels in a video game.
Outmatched by thousands, bloodthirsty Spartan king Leonidas (Gerard
Butler) leads 300 super-buff Supermen sporting bikini briefs and
capes into the Battle of Thermopylae anyway—for honor, for glory—for
no other reason than the superficial titillation of seeing stylized
violence from all different angles and speeds.
Director Zach Snyder, who uses a green screen and all-CGI sets to
mimic the vivid colors of Miller’s comic, matches the Spartans’
boldness. The backgrounds are flat and blurry and the colors
monochromatic, so this technique has the unusual effect of never
once placing its characters in a believable environment. Contrast
the battles here to the Black Forest scene that opens Ridley Scott’s
Gladiator. While Scott’s film uses CGI, it does so sparingly and to
enhance. In that scene there is an immediacy to the surroundings
that 300 just does not have.
Battle scenes recall the replay option on a football video game
where you can watch slo-mo, sudden zoom-ins, and rotating camera
angles. This allows you to see the moment of contact or, in the case
of “300,” see every detail as a spear enters an ogre’s eye. There is
so much slow motion that if they had run the entire film at normal
speed, it would have been half as long.
Basically, “300” exists as a showcase for action. Maybe this would
have been more fun if the whole movie wasn’t bogged down by a stolid
seriousness that rarely lets up, not to mention a philosophically
hollow premise. The stubborn machismo that gets Leonidas into this
conflict purports to be about freedom, liberty, justice, and every
other buzzword that will evoke unblinking loyalty on the part of a
modern audience. In a culture that tosses weak babies off a cliff
and physically abuses strong children to make them hardened
warriors, these ideals ring particularly false.
Gerard Butler, who plays Leonidas, is no screen neophyte. He has
starred in big budget productions like The Phantom of the Opera and
Tomb Raider II. But his visage is unremarkable and that makes him
clay in the filmmakers' hands. His performance is larger than life,
full of passion and vigor - just what the director ordered.
Like 2005’s “Sin City,” another slavish Miller adaptation, “300” is
the visual equivalent of testosterone run rampant. In addition to
all manner of creative blood spilling, there is a heapin g helping of
sex, topless writhing young women, and homophobia. Xerxes is not
just a God-King who leads the Persian army. He is also a giant,
hairless hermaphrodite with a sexed-up lesbian harem. Early in the
film, the Athenians are slandered as “boy-lovers.” Ironically, the
always-shirtless Spartans—as rippled and tan as a Chippendale
dancer—carry their own homoerotic charge. As a side note, I have my
doubts about the reality of those ripped abs. I would wager that a
good portion of the 6 pack stomachs on the actors came from the
computer as well.
This is history for the fantasy crowd. The Persian army comes
complete with a giant and a mutated man with blades for arms. This
renders the historical aspects of the story moot and turns it into
myth. I suppose this is a directors prerogative. But the reality of
this event is far more rich and complex in terms of storytelling
possibilities. I just wanted more historical accuracy and a bit less
Lord Of The Rings.
Audacious movies are always more entertaining than bland ones, even
when they are a spectacular mess. “300” may be riddled with
laughable dialogue that sounds better when bellowed and a voice-over
narration as resolute as it is ridiculous, but no one will ever
accuse it of being flavorless. Lines such as “we must consult the
oracle” do tend to make the eyes roll. What made “Sin City” work was
how it tweaked the tried and true themes of film noir, bringing a
sad resonance to its characters even while Miller spun his macho
fantasies. Although the action sequences in “300” are brutal
showcases of technical prowess, they are missing any whiff of
emotional significance. This is especially true in several scenes
that are meant to rally the troops. The speeches here are leaden in
cliché. Having been moved by the St. Crispians Day speech in
Shakespeare’s Henry V each time I hear it, the speeches in 300 are
hollow and uninspiring. These should be moments of emotional
grandeur. But they fall flat here.
Right now, “300” feels like the latest high-tech rollercoaster—the
one with the craziest loops that pulls the most G’s. I know this
didn’t happen, but I couldn’t help thinking that Snyder was
constantly trying to one-up Mel Gibson. He made sure that severed
heads would actually fly in “300” (rather than the simple
roll/bounce move in “Apocalypto"), and increased the number of
martyrs (a la “Braveheart") by a whopping two hundred and
ninety-nine. Nice work, sir. 300 may not offer masterful
storytelling in a conventional sense, but it's hard to beat as a
spectacle and that makes it worthwhile viewing.
|
|
|
|
300 © 2007
Legendary Pictures, Inc., Virtual Studios, Atmosphere
Entertainment MM LLC, Hollywood Gang Productions
All Rights Reserved
Review © 2007 Alternate Reality, Inc. |
|
|
|
RELATED REVIEWS... |
|
MAN OF STEEL |
|
 |
|
"...a completely assured
production whose style and swagger attempt to compensate for its flaws and
mostly succeed in doing so....." (JR) |
|
|
|
WATCHMEN |
|
 |
|
"This isn't Watchmen
beaten into submission for movie screens, it's Watchmen being allowed to exist
as itself on movie screens." (JR) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
