MATT.... Big apologies to anyone who read this article earlier today when the spoiler was attached without warning. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING OF THE FILM, DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW, SKIP TO NEXT ARTICLE. ALL OUR REVIEWS IN THE PAST AND IN THE FUTURE ARE SPOILER FREE UNLESS STATED. (Originally published on
The Rec ) Once, long ago, epics and costume dramas had to do more than simply paint grand vistas, or produce eye-popping special effects; they had to have an emotional center, engaging and supportable characters, and a discernible journey for the hero. Epics exist to not only transport us to another time or place; they also exist to rouse us, excite us, and move us to tears. Those qualifications no longer apply to today's movies. Special effects and sensory overload are the order of the day, without thought or care to any other aspect of the process. Audiences run to the theater now only to gawk slack-jawed at the latest visual marvels, and then proclaim it "art." Unfortunately, a movie is much more than a series of pretty pictures. Such is the problem with "300," director Zach Snyder's interpretation of Frank Miller's graphic novel. The film (barely) follows the ancient true story of King Leonidas of Sparta, who led three hundred soldiers into a battle against hundreds of thousands of Persian warriors under the direction of King Xerxes. The story is dramatic, incredible, and (surprisingly) not well documented in cinema. The film adds an entire subplot involving Queen Gorgo fighting for her husband in the Greek Senate which did not happen. Despite the bravery and courage of the Spartan warriors, they do eventually fall, but not before taking out a huge chunk of Xerxes' army. This decisive maneuver by Leonidas eventually led to Greece fighting and defeating the Persians, which history shows had much to do with the current alignment of the world scene today. So, with such a powerful story on his hands, Snyder makes the fatal error of turning it into some sort of video game. Employing huge arsenals of computers and technicians, Snyder filmed the entire movie against green screens and then filled in the rest with painterly, arresting images. Indeed, if taken as single shots or short clips, this film could be displayed in a museum. However, when displayed in a
theater, the film is required to do more than look cool. It needs to have dramatic thrust, charismatic characters that sweep you along in their journey, and emotional closure at its conclusion. To that end, "300" fails disappointingly. The main problem lies with the computer. Nothing in this film feels real at all. The long speeches Leonidas gives to rouse his troops, supposedly screamed at the edge of the ocean, sound and look like they were screamed in a soundstage. The battles look cool in a video game sort of way, with severed heads flying through the air, but never do we feel the fear and danger of real battle. Snyder undercuts this even more by employed a variable shutter speed, which slows and speeds up the action. It looks great, but it feels like nothing at all. Compare the vistas and battles here to something that actually works - "Braveheart," for example - and you start to see that both movies have great shots, but only one has the heart to move an audience to CARE about the outcome. Against these computer backdrops, Gerard Butler fashions Leonidas as brave, stubborn, and maybe a little crazy. Yet, we barely know the man at all. The same goes for his three hundred soldiers, who have identical sets of abs and personalities. And when the three hundred face off against the absolutely ridiculous hordes of the Persian empire, we are supposed to root for them, but we can't. Nothing presented in this film matters at all; it feels light and airy and weightless precisely when it should be dramatic and bold and weighty. CGI blood squirts everywhere, yet nobody is ever stained with it. The Persians, who look like refugees from a Nine Inch Nails video, are simply pieces of meat being splayed in mid-air, without any subtext or meaning. I wanted to root for these characters and for this story. In fact, the shot of Leonidas' death, with a million arrows rising into the sky to destroy him, is so brilliant and powerful that I hated the film even more for robbing the drama from that moment of determined sacrifice. What a waste. Ultimately, I think Snyder had a powerful work of art in his hands with this film. Unfortunately he chose to cut it up and color all over it.