The film adaptation of the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller I’m afraid doesn’t go much beyond being a graphic novel with stunning cgi. Plainly the target audience of this film wasn’t much beyond 20. It viewed for all of its length as somewhat of a yawn if you were looking for plot, character development, milieu, in short anything that might have made this a great film instead of a dull film with lots of cgi blood and stop action and sepia tones.
Which is a pity, because the story of the Battle of Thermopylae is a fascinating one, one full of betrayal, military strategy, heroism, political intrigue and the stuff of legends. The Battle of Thermopylae will remain one of history’s most significant strategic battles. And it will remain a tribute to determination and heroism in the face of overwhelming odds.
However, what Frank Miller and his crew have created is a fantasy legend that does nothing to promote history. 300 does everything to glorify hack and slash video games and the gangster mentality bravado.
The acting was poor, basically all at one level. People were intense or intensely angry.
The screen play was essentially non-existent and did nothing to fill out the glaring literary gaps left by the graphic novel.
The musical score plainly was geared to head-bashing rock, and while it did everything to reinforce the very muscle-bound, fantasy energy of the film (some picturesque cgi renderings of male abs), it did nothing to reinforce anything historical or real.
In short, a very underwhelming film, and one I’m very glad I didn’t pay full theatre price to see. This one will not be an addition to our video library.