I went to see The 300 on Saturday. At the insistance of friends, we ended up seeing it in an Imax, which had one positive factor (since the screen wasn’t majorly bigger, I’m not sure the extra $2 was worth it) that the picture quality was much better than on a conventional screen. I did get to see each individual blood droplet in some of the bloodier battles, and in the training montage.

It was an interesting movie, but don’t be fooled: it’s a complete guy flick. Throughout the whole thing, there’s men with six packs going on and on about glory and how Spartans do it better. It is a penis match, and the Spartans ultimately “prove” they got the bigger ones than Xerxes and his forces. However, that also means there’s plenty of eye candy. I found myself wondering throughout the film how long they had to train to get those stunning physiques.

The movie also teaches you a valuable lesson (that should be on some sort of film list, because it always seems to happen) : do not piss off the seemingly minor character, especially if they have some sort of hideous disfigurement or handicap (in this case, a hunchback…yeah, who didn’t see that coming?) because they WILL come back to haunt you — even if they can’t walk straight.

I also found myself noticing some of the undertones. The Persians are shown as bloody, ignorant, chaotic forces. The leaders are androgynous. The Persians seem to be made up of mostly ghastly monsters (i.e. the Immortals), slaves, and strange beasts. The rulers have a taste for perversion, homosexuality, piercings, and God complexes. Contrasted are the clean Spartans, with their trim beards, their very manly chests, and they just believe in freedom. Oh, did I mention that the Persians are every type of minority and the Spartans are only white? I saw brown people, black people (even Zulus get mauled over by a rhino), Asians…I was just waiting for them to throw in a Native American for good measure. I couldn’t help wonder if they were trying to say something with this classic East versus West battle. I don’t care what Frank Miller drew, or how much the filmmakers deny it, this film shows the mindset of many people when it comes to the mysterious/exotic East.

Once I acknowledged and catalogued all these observations, I had to admit to myself that 1) the film was beautiful. It’s surrealistic environment coupled with its strange “bullet time” action made it unique and interesting enough to overlook the obvious weaknesses. 2) The soundtrack complimented the film, even though in some sequences it seemed to consist of heavy metal. 3) They showed the relationship between Queen Gorgo and King Leonides tenderly, something usually lacking in these types of movies, and I actually felt the man was in love instead of out for some T & A. And, finally, 4) Queen Gorgo was shown as a strong woman. Yes, she didn’t break out of the “homemaker and wife” status, but I must remind myself this is a period piece. Greek women were suppose to stay in their part of the house during the day (the movie does reference it — historical accuracy! *gasp*), but she shows a passion and strength that I admired. She even got to stab someone.

So there you go. It ain’t worth an Oscar, and if I didn’t already know John’s gonna buy it the minute it gets on DVD (just like he did Sim City), I’d say I wouldn’t be sure if I’d want to own it either. However, it’s worth one watch in theaters because it really is made for a big screen experience.

2:22 pm | Category: Journal | |

2 Responses to “300 the movie” 

ID: 4 March 12th, 2007 at 4:44 pm Peppa says: hmm..i had some friends that watched it at the IMAX and they said it was such an awesome experience just because it is like HD stuff. i on the other hand just went to a theater to watch it. I was siked about the CGI technology because the preview looks so awesome! I saw some behind the scene CGI clips at zannel but yeah, the movie is TIGHT!

ID: 5 March 13th, 2007 at 11:53 pm Himani says: I totally agree, the CGI technology is very impressive in this film. One of my favorite visual sequences is the oracle’s dance.

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