Movie Review - 300

I watched 300 recently and from seeing the traliers, I thought I was going to hate it since it would be another effects heavy movie with no story. The movie was heavy with effects, with the whole background all being computer graphics I think, but the story was quite strong also.

The movie starts off with a backward narration from Seachange's own Diver Dan, David Wenham. I can't remember any of the character's names, except Leonides (spelling possibly incorrect) the king. Wenham tells the story of the day that a group of 300 (hence the movie name) warriors stand up to an army of hundreds of thousand, and cause a lot of damage before dying honourably.

The movie is based on real history and this effort from the Spartans did cause the rest of Greece to take note and later on rebel against the Persians, as shown in the movie. Some elements of the movie are probably fake, such as all the weird creatures and "people". But overall, the main story of Leonides and his courageous men translates quite well.

The acting is quite good, with a lot of grunting and growling from the Spartans. There is also so much 6-pack abs on display that you would think it was an ad for a gym or something. What I don't get is why they don't wear more clothes in the cold weather and where they got the wax to get rid of all the hairs on their chests. Apart from that, the sword fighting action is spectacular in it choreography. It's also extremely gruesome, with lots of scenes of people getting beheaded and skewered and amputated. It's not one for the weak of stomach.

Overall, I liked the movie and found myself cheering for the Spartans and hoping they would win, even when fully knowing that they die in the end. But they did win since they inspired so many other people and their sacrifice was for their people.

Rating: ****