[Updated] 300

As Nell had aptly commented (in tears!) about this movie:

Life as we know it has ended; There’ll no better movie to watch!
– Nella

Visually stunning, fast paced action, and somehow, although us Asians were portrayed in bad light, we get to love the brave 300 Spartans who fought the unimaginable forces of the Persian Army, especially the King Leonidas.

Some say it is a historical fact, some say it was only the imaginations of Frank Miller, the author of the graphic novel of the same title this masterpiece is based on. My knowledge limits me from acknowledging either, but I don’t care.

In fact, somebody tried to make provoke me by telling me the storyline. I said it won’t matter. It’s just that good.

I’m trying to write a good review on this masterpiece, but I’m lost for words. You’ll just have to watch it for yourselves. It’s one of the best 2 hours spent on a movie.

—

After re-reading this post, and writing a review on Mukhsin, I believe that it’s not fair for me to write it in this way. So, allow me to start again from the beginning.

300, is a movie about 300 Spartan warriors and their King battling the Persian Army. Persia, under the rule of God-King (Pharaoh?) Xerxes is at that time leading an expansion campaign. Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) had the whole of Asia at his disposal, hence the massive army.

Sparta, at that time, were within a sacred period, where no war should be waged. King Leonidas (Gerard Butler), on the other hand, thinks that Sparta should not lay low as the Persian Army march through their land. So he gathered 300 of his warriors, and set on a quest to slow, if not stop, Xerxes‘ army.

So Leonidas left Sparta in the hands of the Queen (Lena Headey), and set forth to defend his land. The Queen, needs to use her influence to convince the Greek ministers(?) to allow the Spartan army to fight the impending doom.

The story is narrated by Dilios (David Wenham) , the only soldier to survive the battle. I must say that the visual in this movie, is astounding. It is made similar to the techniques used in Sky Captain And The World of Tomorrow, but the final results are nothing to compare to. The action and the fight scenes are top notch, especially when it involves a lot of slow motion action sequences.

The soundtracks surely does magic in this movie. You’re really on the edge of your seat, especially when the Spartan and the Persians clashes. Blood splatters are everywhere, although if you had enjoyed blood in Tarantino‘s movies, it would not satisfy your hunger (are you a vampire or what?). Blood sprays are mostly computer generated, but surely, you won’t notice it. You’ll be busy either oogling at the hot-bods, or the fight itself.

The imagery is surreal, with the painting-like quality. The character’s are well defined, both in character building, and the character’s body themselves. It is reported that the male casts for the Spartan undergo 6 month of physical training prior to the shooting.

There’s nothing to hate about 300, except that we’re portrayed as the bad guys, and our tradition and heritage got ridiculed, specifically our ‘mystics’. But as far as it is a movie, I’d say this is one of the best RM11 (Kerol‘s money) and 2 hours (sans 10 minutes waiting for Nella and another 5 fetching her from the ticket gate.) spent in a cinema.

I’m giving 300 5/5 stars for 300