300 Review

I finally got to see 300 this weekend. The latest release from the WB/DC partnership brings Frank Miller's classic graphic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae to the big screen. I have been looking forward to this for quite some time, as I immensely enjoy most of Miller's work: Ronin, The Dark Knight Returns, and Batman: Year One. You'd think this one was only a comic that a history geek could love, but you'd be wrong. Only Miller could take an obscure ancient historical event and make it into a sweeping saga. The movie did not disappoint.

300 gets most of the story correct. Sparta was one of the ancient Greek city-states that pioneered democracy. Spartans prided themselves on their independence and fighting skills, their principles of equality, and the rule of law. From the East comes a menace to the principles and freedom of Sparta: emissaries from the Persian king Xerxes. Xerxes fancies himself as a god whose destiny is to rule all he surveys. His campaign has taken him as far as Greece. Leonidas, king of Sparta, has undergone the same training and hardships as the lowliest of his soldiers, and he is not easily shaken by Xerxes' messenger. Leonidas has enemies within however, and not everyone in Sparta's council shares his courage. At every turn, he is hamstrung by corrupt religious leaders and council members, who will not commit Sparta's army to the coming conflict. Leonidas is forced to compromise by selecting 300 "volunteers" to block the Persian advance at the pass at Thermopylae, the only road to Sparta and other Greek city-states.

The movie is visually stunning. The only other movie I can compare it to in terms of style is Sin City. Action takes place in slow motion and fast forward. We see a Spartan run a Persian through with his spear, and the scene slows down to show the gory details of the event. It is a very violent movie, even more so than Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan. It no doubt is a realistic dramatization of the battle as it really occurred, but there are some more sensational characters and scenes where Miller took artistic license. The so-called "Immortals" of Xerxes look like ninjas from a really really bad Hong Kong action movie; there are also some characters that would look more at home in Lord of the Rings than the ancient world. But on the whole, the fighting scenes are realistic, right down to the way the Phalanx operates.

There are also some political themes that run through the story. The Spartan belief in freedom is a sharp contrast to the force of Xerxes, who are numbered entirely by slaves and the conquered. Free men are apparently better fighters, and the Persians cower in their presence, and must be whipped to charge the Phalanx to their gruesome deaths. The Spartans are all fit, manly men who laugh in the face of the overwhelming Persian army, and relish the idea of dying in glorious defense of Sparta. The Persians are all unattractive cowards, and Xerxes himself is the most androgynous king (dare I say queen?) I've ever seen. I thought people nowadays had too many piercings...you could have another gold rush on this guy alone. Art imitating life...this whole movie seems to be about the US being the only country to stand up to Iran's nuclear ambitions (Iran = modern-day Persia). Even if this is the case, 300 is a movie you're not likely to forget anytime soon.