Name: 300
Date: 2007
Genre: ‘Historical’ Action / Comic Book
Certificate: 15
DT’s Rating: 8.5/10
I’ve mentioned before about review a film within it’s context and purpose. Each film serves a different mood and seeks to create a different emotion or effect in it’s audience. Some, naturally, are more serious than others. And some, like 300, and make just for pure fun.
This is what I love about the recent blue-screen comic book genre that’s been creeping up recently with films such as Sin City, The Spirit and 300. They’re homages to the comic books that spawned them because they realise that comics are meant for fun. They’re often gratuitously over the top and at times critics dub them a little mindless, favouring style over substance. But isn’t what you want when you sit down to a film like this the style? And the action?
Admittedly, 300 is pretty simple. Leonidus, the King of Sparta, is threatened with the invasion of the massive Persian army unless she submits. Being a spartan he of course kicks the persian messenger into a well and sparks a war. However the council will not allow him to use all his forces, so he sets off with an ‘armed guard’ of 300 soldiers to avoid needing their permission, ona suicide mission that is designed to aim to prompt the council into allowing the full army to go to war. Thus the 300 soliders battle to an extremely impressive and as ever greatly choreographed death.
Simples.
The film knows it’s audience. It knows you’re there for a thrill. It knows you’re there for the visuals and for some lighthearted gratuitous violence, and boy does it deliver. It’s maxed to the eyeballs with geek-worthy quotes. It’s choreographed and filmed beautifully (check out the oracle sequence for some eye-poping cinematography) and the digital artistry is stunning (even if the abs so look painted on)
the Character are admittedly fairly thin, but drawn enough to be cool and entertaining (I esp liked the Spartan queen as a kickass lady). You cheer for the Spatrans, you boo and hiss at the melodramatic excess of the Persians, and it’s all great fun.
What more could you ask for?
True, it could be fleshed out a little more, but why overcomplicate things. as a lighthearted fun movie it works. Just a little escapism without being too bogged down.
I loved it.
8.5/10
…plus it spawned a funny internet meme, what more do you want? haha
Quotes
(in no particular order)
Quote:
Xerxes: There will be no glory in your sacrifice. I will erase even the memory of Sparta from the histories! Every piece of Greek parchment shall be burned. Every Greek historian, and every scribe shall have their eyes pulled out, and their tongues cut from their mouths. Why, uttering the very name of Sparta, or Leonidas, will be punishable by death! The world will never know you existed at all!
King Leonidas: The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, even a god-king can bleed.
Quote:
Dilios: “Remember us.” As simple an order as a king can give. “Remember why we died.” For he did not wish tribute, nor song, nor monuments nor poems of war and valor. His wish was simple. “Remember us,” he said to me. That was his hope, should any free soul come across that place, in all the countless centuries yet to be. May all our voices whisper to you from the ageless stones, “Go tell the Spartans, passerby, that here by Spartan law, we lie.”
Quote:
Daxos: I see I was wrong to expect Sparta’s commitment to at least match our own.
King Leonidas: Doesn’t it?
[points to Arcadian soldier behind Daxos]
King Leonidas: You there, what is your profession?
Free Greek-Potter: I am a potter… sir.
King Leonidas: [points to another soldier] And you, Arcadian, what is your profession?
Free Greek-Sculptor: Sculptor, sir.
King Leonidas: Sculptor.
[turns to a third soldier]
King Leonidas: You?
Free Greek-Blacksmith: Blacksmith.
King Leonidas: [turns back shouting] Spartans! What is your profession?
Spartans: HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!
King Leonidas: [turning to Daxos] You see, old friend? I brought more soldiers than you did.
Quote:
Persian: A thousand nations of the Persian empire descend upon you. Our arrows will blot out the sun!
Stelios: Then we will fight in the shade.
