300 – Review

I saw the movie 300 last night. I knew it had been produced by some of the same people who made Sin City, and the previews showed it clearly applied a similarly gritty, visceral visual style to the violence. That worried me.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind violence in films—heck, I love a good action movie—but there has to be more to the film than blood and gore. If the movie is not otherwise enjoyable, the addition of a few dozen quality kills will not make it any better. Pointlessly brutal cinematic violence just makes a movie more tiring.

Fortunately, 300 was not like that at all. It was exciting and beautiful and awe-inspiring and at times even funny. It was the the best kind of movie experience: I enjoyed it when I watched it, and I kept thinking about it afterwards.

300 is based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller, so it has more than a few fantastic elements. The Persians did not have monsters fighting for their side, for example, and many of the meetings between characters were probably made up. Also, Spartan hoplites probably wore armor instead of fighting bare-chested.

I’ve since read a little about the battle at Thermopylae, however, and I think the movie got most of the important parts right, especially the advantages that accrue to well-trained soldiers fighting on well-chosen ground.

Probably the biggest deviation from history is that the Spartans in the movie are fighting all alone. (Other Greek soldiers are shown, and more are alluded to, but they rarely appear.) Throughout most of the real battle, the Spartans were accompanied by thousands of other soldiers, and the Thebans and Thespians stayed to the end. Nevertheless, the 300 Spartans were the point of the spear.

Some reviewers have felt the need to discuss the political meaning of the film, especially its West-v.s.-East conflict, the depiction of the Persians, and how it all relates to the war in Iraq. That strike me as a waste of time. The events in the film took place long before the founding of Christianity or Islam, between civilizations that have all but vanished, leaving behind only some important ideas and some great stories. Do yourself a favor and don’t worry about it.