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Currentfilm.com Review:  A fever dream of an adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel, "300" is the follow-up from director Zack Snyder to his enjoyable remake of "Dawn of the Dead". The picture uses considerable manipulation, digital enhancement and other tricks in order to create a beautifully surreal world, made up largely of artificial backgrounds (similar to director Robert Rodriguez's adaptation of Miller's "Sin City".) Essentially, "300" is a look into the legendary Battle of Thermopylae. King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) of Persia sends messengers into Sparta in order to inform them that they'd best lay down their arms and surrender. King Leonidas (Gerard Butler), not surprisingly, isn't hearing any of it. This, despite the fact that well, the Spartans have about 300 men (hence the title), and the Persians have, oh, about a couple hundred thousand. After the Spartans make it perfectly clear that they are not going to give up without a fight, they head for battle against the massive Persian army. The majority of the film is essentially one big, brutal fight sequence. "300" is unapologetically style over substance; this is not a history lesson - it's largely a movie focused on a bunch of guys fighting and showing it in the most visually striking (such as a scene where a wave of arrows is so massive it turns the sky dark) way possible. The movie certainly succeeds in that regard, but character development is pretty minimal, the story is rather thin and the movie's dialogue is fairly clunky. I wasn't expecting character development in an action picture such as this, but the movie really doesn't even provide all that much of an introduction for these characters before the battles begin. Credit must go to the actors for making these characters stand out as much as they do here, as in the hands of others, these characters could be more one-dimensional. Gerald Butler is commanding and convincing as Leonidas in a performance that carries the film decently enough and makes some very clunky dialogue work through sheer force. Santoro's less believable, but remains adequate as the villain of the piece. "300" is dazzling visually, but the film does come up short on substance; even just a bit more character development would have made the film more engaging. Still, this is a film that presents itself essentially as a pure actioner from the get go and it more than delivers (to an almost exhausting degree during the film's nearly 2 hours - there's not a subtle second here) on the sleek, intense thrills. The DVD VIDEO: "300" is presented by Warner Brothers in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The film's visuals have been heavily manipulated, but the presentation quality here certainly seems to present the film's intended appearance accurately. Sharpness and detail were outstanding throughout the show, as even the finest details - hairs, etc - were crisp and clear throughout the movie. Some minor (and intentional) grain was spotted, but of concern was a couple of traces of edge enhancement and pixelation. Other than these few slight concerns, this was a crisp and clean effort from the studio. The film's heavily stylized color palette looked accurately presented, with no smearing or other concerns. Black level also remained solid, as well. SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation delivers just the sort of slam-bang audio experience that one would expect from a movie like this. The battles rage on around the listing space, as surrounds kick into overdrive with an assult of various effects and ambience. The battles are also spread quite well across the wide front soundstage. Even the quieter scenes in the film don't give the speakers a rest. EXTRAS: Cinematographer Larry Fong, director Zack Snyder and writer Kurt Johnstad offer an audio commentary for the film. Not surprisingly for a movie like this, much of the discussion turns to the visuals, as the three chat about effects, cinematography, sets and more throughout much of the track. We also get some insights about working with the actors and thoughts about Miller's graphic novel and how it compares to the movie. Final Thoughts: "300" is a dazzler visually, but comes up somewhat short on substance. Still, this is an entertaining action film that provides some incredible visuals, strong atmosphere and over-the-top battles. The DVD offers excellent audio/video quality and a good commentary. Recommended. 
Film Grade The Film B DVD Grades Video 92/A Audio: 95/A Extras: 80/B- |