Zack Snyder has thus far made a career out of dodging bullets. Remake Dawn of the Dead? Yeah right- except he made a very good remake in a sea of absolutely dead in the water remakes of other horror classics. Tackle 300? Sin City wannabe written all over it- except that 300 takes Sin City on a run for it's over top imagery and overall mythic density. I for one can't wait to see what happens with Watchmen although I have my doubts even Snyder can pull that off. But the Battle for Thermopylae and the continued success of the graphic novel based film are in good hands here. While not a very nuanced film 300 is full of invitations to nuanced thought about the launch of democracy that this battle helped bring about.
I've avoided press for this like the plague knowing that my reaction to it would be intensely visceral. My advice to you is to see this remarkable film and make up your own mind as well without the intensely political rhetoric that is sure to color others reviews. I haven't felt so provoked to think about the nature of soldiering since my first viewing of The Mission. It's an odd comparison. 300 couldn't be more removed from that films largely pastoral imagery. And yet in its own way 300 pauses to allow us reflection as well right when it needs to most. Whether you are skeptical of current military conflict or believe in it as an unfortunate necessity isn't really the point here. But the raw distillation of the Spartan philosophy as it's come to be part of our mythic view of ancient warfare has never been clearer onscreen. The plot couldn't be much more perfunctory but the images couldn't be more breathtaking. Zack Snyder has taken the whole concept of sword and sandal spectacle to its logical conclusion and by trusting in the power of those images he forces us to evaluate how we feel about them even as we are utterly amazed and carried on the sensory rollercoaster of the action.
This is much more than mere battle scene after battle scenes between jerkin clad rippling musclemen. Frank Miller's astounding imagery and Gerard Butler's amazing creation of Leonidas are absolute in their command of our inner mythic landscape surrounding the Battle of Thermopile. And this is exactly what makes the film work despite a see through storyline. Unlike other image driven films like Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow or even the visually richer Sin City, 300 succeeds in carrying a myth to the screen and freeze framing it right at it's most powerful and iconic moments. It is, we feel, about something, about honor, and national identity. Many historical purists will cry foul and they too miss the point. Because the point isn't what really happened at Thermopylae but what we have come to believe happened, why Leonidas and his men continue to inspire.
The special effects in this film virtually cease to be special effects meshing with the graphic novel momets they are meant to recreate in a manner almost unseen in the history of film. Only Sin City has done it as well and a real arguement can be made here that while less emotionally resonant, less full of fleshed out characters, Snyder's 300 is the better of the two films in reaching it's more complex goal. All Sin City wanted was for you to mop your brow at the end and feel a little sorry for SC's denizens. here we are asked to feel sorry for teeth gnashing half mad soldiers even while our own country is embroiled in an increasingly unpopular war. Special effects? They are almost invisible in this context of death. Is there a modern movie who has painted warfare so vividly?
In an age that lionizes and demonizes everything there is an unfortunate tendency to regard myth as better than history. But Wilder, by presenting mere images, helps us understand why myth is so much better equipped to carry us into history. If we do not aspire to anything we betray our very nature. Men are made to stand for what is right, men are made to offer all they have in the service of what is right. History is there to tell us where we have failed. If the Spartans, who built there entire society around warfare, ultimately leave us troubled for the sacrifice of their young and the fate that ultimately befell those in their society unable to defend themselves they also speak to the above virtues. Their story is the story of all men in the fight to live lives of meaning, their deaths our deaths, their legacy the continuation of the ideals they fight for. Perhaps 300 is best summarized as a cautionary tale unless one believes that all there is to being a good human being is being a good Spartan.
God, I love this website.
Me too.
"Many historical purists will cry foul and they too miss the point"
Such as: Freeze Dried Movies
I'm prepared for glory now :-)
the trailer for this just keeps kickin ass. haven't felt this much anticipation for a big action fest since the Matrix movies.
(and they didn't even use conan the barbarian or requiem for a dream music :-)
Thank you Canfield for this awesome review! This is one of the movies I've been dying to watch this year ("Spider-Man 3", "Grindhouse" and "Live Free or Die Hard" are the others). As other online reviews have echoed this movie is all about the visuals and the battles. I'd be very much surprised if "300" is not #1 this box office weekend. Hope Synder can bring the same kind of excitement to the "Watchmen" project.
holy crap ur fast. We have to wait 2 more weeks in Holland for this movie to come out. Damn!
I'm genuinely surprised by this review. I, for one, found 300 to be awful. Not only is the dialogue dreadful (I dont care if it was taken almost verbatim from the graphic novel), the acting is similarly crap but maybe that is due to the fact that there is no real character to anyone in the film. True, the actors were committed to their roles, but given the flimsy material they were working with it makes watching their performances down right embarassing. Also, the CG work is technically impressive but the gold sheen that the entire movie is bathed in gets old really, really fast. It's not like Sin City, where the visuals created a mood and atmosphere and gave the world texture. Here it's pointless aesthetic flourish. And why is half the film in slow-motion? I know, I know. "It's just a kick-ass ride, it's only meant to entertain, blah blah blah" Well, when the film is so utterly, mind-numbingly, laughably dumb it kind of makes the whole thing a tedious bore even if you are presented with an endless barrage of (fake looking) action. Honestly, the wikipedia entry on the battle of thermopylae is more exciting than this film.
And though the film is too stupid to really warrant an intellectual conversation, has anyone noticed how myopic and borderline racist its world view is? Firstly, it glorifies a society that places utmost importance on brute strength and scoffs at artistry and scholastics (what with the Spartans basically comparing the Athenians to a bunch of gay nancy-boys). And they toss away imperfect babies to die - they are about as genetically strict as Nazis. The film is basically a bunch of perfect, virtuous white people battling mysterious, corrupt, mystical blacks and asians who are also feminized in a blatantly homophobic way even given the film's latent homoeroticism. I know I'm probably taking it too seriously, but is it too much to ask for some level of thought to go into even our biggest, dumbest, (i.e. most popular) crap action films?
Lets see Spartan gave birth to democracy? Oldest race of democracy has been foundin Mesopotamia not Greece. I suggest folks don't get their history from Comics Books.
And to glorify people who use to throw infants off the cliffs if they did not meet their standards. Miller next book I suppose is an alternate time line where glorious Nazi gave birth to new Europe.
You want to make fantasy film I am all for it, just don't advertise you comic books as facts and don't glorify baby killers
Yeah, it does come off as right-wing propaganda, with the undertone of justifying the current war in Iraq...except that apparently Snyder intended to criticize the Bush administration and compare them to Xerxes' rule.
tijd's comment says everything i would have needed to say.
but also, whats with all the people saying "oh cool, its based on a frank miller GN!" -- really, GNs aren't very mainstream, there are very few people who buy them... ppl just say that to sound cool or something.
orien,
Do you think those were unfair messages in the film? Weren't they fighting for their freedom? To die would basically mean slavery. I for one would have fought side by side with those men if it meant protecting my son and wife from a life of rape, torture and slavery at the hands of a tyrant. And also, they should've sent more troops (course then not much of a movie - haha).
I suppose you guys can look at it as right wing propaganda if you want to, but I mostly saw it as inspirational to the story at hand; not to mention logical.
"protecting my son and wife from a life of rape, torture and slavery at the hands of a tyrant"
Read the comic book. Leonidas only had to bow to Xerxes; his lands would not be attacked or occupied, and his people would be left alone.It was the absolutism of their culture that made them choose death rather than yielding to a greater power. The very thing that made them great and legendary was also their tragic flaw. This is the point of the comic book. All things taken to an extreme are harmful, including extreme patriotism and jingoism.
I think I'd like to post early before I actually go see the film. But Comparing Sin City to 300 may be off in some ways. Namely for the way we view Pulp Noir and way we view period action epics. Especially as portrayed on the big screen. I actually find both adaptations lacking in respects to their havy use of computer imagery. I wish I could sperate myself from computer intrusion but i can't like most. For me the computer gloss is too apparent and contradicts Miller's gritty oringinal concept of "the past".
P.S. - Who the heck would use white light rim lighting on that sneak Watchmen clip (AICN posted this week)? I hate mainstream use of white rim lighting to punch a character off of an obvious cg background. Shoot it in NY you bafoons. Mars is a desert. Shoot it in a real desert (purple colorize the damn thing). Does anyone not notice the uselessness of rim lighting in mainstream cinema. Am I alone in thinking that The Watchmen should be shot mainly in 70's Taxidriver fashion. Using a more believable natural light sourcing technique?
"except that apparently Snyder intended to criticize the Bush administration and compare them to Xerxes' rule"
hey, actually, i can see that too. sending in thousands of soldiers from different nations (coalition of the willing?) to defeat a small group of enemies, only to get slaughtered time and again.
..but, then again.. Xerxes wins that battle in the end
words on paper never translate well to actual dialog.. that was the worst thing about sin city, it made everyone sound so damn corny, and I have a feeling this will be the same in 300.
also all this overly clean cg gets boring fast, I hope all this bluescreen crap wont go on for too long, try building a real set for a change.
Fantastic review! You put it much more eloquently than I ever could have.
And to all you people out there worrying about the political message of the film. Focusing on that is missing the whole point, but if you really want to debate this then I would say the message is clearly anarchist in nature rather than republican or conservative. Just think about Xerxes´ line (not word-for-word correct): "Leonidas requires you to stand. All I ask of you is to kneel". Either we stand up for our freedom as individuals on a daily basis and are ready to fight for it or we can take the easy way and just let others worry about that for us, and all we have to do is to surrender. Conservatives and Democrats - doesn´t matter - they both want you to kneel. And considering Frank Millers political leanings I don´t think that it´s that far fetched.
I think people here are taking this movie all too seriously. Hollywood films are not and never were meant to be historically accurate. Movies are there for entertainment only. If people want accuracy then a documentary on the discovery channel would be a better option. I don't think it's wise to apply modern day politically correctness to historical events that took place over 2000 years ago. As for all this CGI nonsense, whats wrong some location shooting and some good old fashion hollywood set building?
It takes tijd to fully understand how to properly regard this movie.. :)
Come on guys.. the movie is just .. well..
.. gay ..
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