Movie Review: 300
By Purple
While not everything that Frank Miller writes is gold, he appears to be on a roll these days. ""300"", the latest movie adaptation of one of Frank Miller’s comics, earned more than seventy million dollars, and had one of the largest opening weekends for an R-Rated movie. The combination of intense blood and guts action dished out by a bunch of chiseled body builder guys appears to have struck a nerve with the mainstream.
Like the stylized "Sin City" film, "300" has garnered attention as it carves out its own unique look and feel that echoes its comic book roots. And while other heavy green screen productions such as "Sky Captain" suffered when the actors and their virtual sets never quite seemed to connect, in "300" the metallic sepia toned tints applied to every frame cements the actors and the virtual backgrounds of ancient Greece together.
Set in 480 B.C., "300" recounts the story of the small group of Spartan warriors who defended their home against the invading Persian army. The plot for "300" moves along at an awkward pace, and is filled with historical inaccuracies and the kind of shouted out cliché’ laden speeches about fighting for honor and glory you’d expect in a battle bonanza such as this. And regardless of the flat dialog, the us against them to defeat the enemy against impossible odds mentality is always a crowd pleaser and readies its audience to feast on the blood frenzy to come.
And once "300" gets rolling, it takes the cinematic fight scene experience to a new level of visceral carnage and indulges audiences in a stylized splatterfest of ultraviolence. "300"’s director Zack Snyder sharply focuses on the deadly cause and effect unleashed by the Spartan swords and spears. The camera speeds up and slows down the action, rotating the angle as blood splatters into frozen time and space. And while these moments are exhilarating, unfortunately, the action peaks about two thirds through the film, and "300" storyline slides off towards the end.
If you have been craving the kind of ancient epic battle scenes seen in the "Lord of the Rings", and don’t expect too much from the acting, pacing and dialog then "300" will satisfy your big screen needs.
Hoping they will get around to adapting more Frank Miller comics like the "Dark Knight Returns" or "Ronin" for Movie Magazine this is Purple.
Like the stylized "Sin City" film, "300" has garnered attention as it carves out its own unique look and feel that echoes its comic book roots. And while other heavy green screen productions such as "Sky Captain" suffered when the actors and their virtual sets never quite seemed to connect, in "300" the metallic sepia toned tints applied to every frame cements the actors and the virtual backgrounds of ancient Greece together.
Set in 480 B.C., "300" recounts the story of the small group of Spartan warriors who defended their home against the invading Persian army. The plot for "300" moves along at an awkward pace, and is filled with historical inaccuracies and the kind of shouted out cliché’ laden speeches about fighting for honor and glory you’d expect in a battle bonanza such as this. And regardless of the flat dialog, the us against them to defeat the enemy against impossible odds mentality is always a crowd pleaser and readies its audience to feast on the blood frenzy to come.
And once "300" gets rolling, it takes the cinematic fight scene experience to a new level of visceral carnage and indulges audiences in a stylized splatterfest of ultraviolence. "300"’s director Zack Snyder sharply focuses on the deadly cause and effect unleashed by the Spartan swords and spears. The camera speeds up and slows down the action, rotating the angle as blood splatters into frozen time and space. And while these moments are exhilarating, unfortunately, the action peaks about two thirds through the film, and "300" storyline slides off towards the end.
If you have been craving the kind of ancient epic battle scenes seen in the "Lord of the Rings", and don’t expect too much from the acting, pacing and dialog then "300" will satisfy your big screen needs.
Hoping they will get around to adapting more Frank Miller comics like the "Dark Knight Returns" or "Ronin" for Movie Magazine this is Purple.
© 2007 - Purple - Air Date: 3/14/07
More Information:
300
USA - 2007
