300 (2007)

Directed By: Zach Snyder
Cast: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Michael Fassbender, Andrew Tierman, Rorigo Santoro, Andrew Pleavin,
Released:

“This is Sparta” cries Gerard Butler’s King Leonidas in one of the sound bites from Zack Snyder’s new graphic novel adaptation, based of Frank “Sin City” Miller’s violent, blood drenched story of the battle of Thermopylae. Snyder, who last bought us an updated remake with the quite good Dawn of the Dead, will next be bringing Alan Moore’s “Greatest Graphic Novel Ever” Watchmen to the big screen, so I went into this with huge anticipation.

Firstly the facts. There were 301 Spartans including the King and about 700 Thespians who meet Xerxes Persian Empire at the Battle of Thermopylae. For three days they held them off before finally succumbing to the Persians superior numbers. Though specifics are unknown, it is now commonly quoted as being 1 million Persian solders held off by the mighty warriors of Greece.

Ahh! Feels good to get the facts out of the way. Now we can deal with the preposterously fictionalised content of Snyder’s film. This sumptuous, if hugely over stylised, film picks up the reins of Miller’s Sin City. The film is virtually a shot for shot retelling of the graphic novel (apparently some of the blood from the graphic novel was digitised and placed directly onto the frame of the film). But beyond the beautiful style this film has about as much depth as a Spartan’s wardrobe. Poor dialogue and an inept direction of scenes mean that we never feel for the plight of these characters. The worst sections are back in Sparta where Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey), Leonidas’ feisty wife tries desperately to convince the local authority to send the army to help the 300 troops dying for their freedom. These scenes punctuate the action from the soldiers but are so poor they jar with the pacing of the film and leave you pining for more blood and guts. These scenes are also far too similar in style and tone to Gladiator and every scene undermines all the effort put into making these soldiers look and fight like heroes. It seems that almost all politicians are corrupt in ancient Greece and have no sense of identity, unlike the warriors giving up their lives for the freedom of their country and lifestyle.

The film starts out fairly well with the first act focusing on how a Spartan soldier becomes a soldier, the trials and tests the young endure to grow up as Spartan. All of this is visually astonishing and narratively, very concise and descriptive. Added to this a clever idea where a young Leonidas uses his intelligence to defeat a greater enemy which echoes the technique employed against the Persians. Then the film begins to fall by the wayside cinematically as the story begins to struggle. A historically accurate version would not have suffered this problem, but Snyder is clearly a big fan of Miller’s graphic novel and doesn’t want to leave anything out. A few clever scenes later, including one where an emissary is shown the hospitality of Sparta, and Leonidas understands his options and makes his decision. Spartans, in this film consider it the highest honour to die for their country and so none of them have a second thought about facing hordes of Persians supposedly led by a man God.

Escorting us rather pointlessly through the narrative is the voice over of Dilios (David Wenham) who creates a context and in many scenes points out the ridiculously obvious. Played fairly well by David Wenham, fresh from Lord of the Rings, the character is set up essentially to be the architect of this great story. As for the Persians, they are represented as Godlike and immortal, particularly Xerxes, the self proclaimed King of Kings. That he looks like he’s part of some bondage party does diminish his intimidating façade but ultimately he is a two dimensional villain who is as forgettable as every aspect of this film except for the style and violence.

Both the style and action sequences of the film are the best and although Snyder really suffers from an inability not to cut as often as possible some of the sequences have a fluidity to them which elevates the fighting and does a damn good job of highlighting the Spartan superior battle techniques.

Ultimately this film is a disappointment. Some great visual ideas and intense action sequences are let down by a wafer thin plot, some truly awful acting and a lack of engagement with the material. Zack Snyder has a long way to go to bring Watchmen to the screen and do it justice.