Dad and I went to see 300 at the Carousel Grande in Greensboro this afternoon. I've been wanting to catch this ever since it came out a few weeks ago. It's adapted from Frank Miller's graphic novel 300, which is about the Battle of Thermopylae that took place in 480 B.C. between the Spartans and the invading Persians. Gerard Butler plays King Leonidas of the Spartans and that's Rodrigo Santoro - who has been playing Paulo on Lost and I had no idea that it was him in this role - as Xerxes.300 is brutal! It may be the most vicious movie that I've ever seen. It's definitely the most violent historical-based film that I've watched... and I've seen plenty. The thing that keeps standing out in my mind is Xerxes' army: if all you know about the Greco-Persian Wars is from watching 300, then you would believe that the Persians were the biggest collection of freaks in the history of anything. I'm not kidding: if the Orcs in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings made you sick to your stomach, you will have weeks of nightmares after seeing the... things... that Xerxes sends out against the Spartans. I mean... holy crow this one guy has knives for both of his forearms!
As for Xerxes himself: he may be one of the most evil and despicable and plain-out ugly villains in movie history. I'm gonna have a very hard time forgetting this guy.
Some people are claiming that there's some kind of subtle commentary about current politics in 300. I really didn't see that, or even know how that's possible: 300 the graphic novel came out in 1998, almost ten years ago now. And 300 the film, from what I hear, is literally a scene-for-scene adaptation of the book and it's dialogue. I think there are a lot of timeless themes in this movie though, for all the violence throughout it.
Anyway, I thought 300 was really good. Better than I was expecting, even. And Dad said that he liked it. I'll definitely be getting this one when it comes out on DVD.
2 comments:
THANK YOU! I am sick and tired of arguing with people about the supposed political undertones in this flick. They're simply just not there.
Glad you enjoyed the film: I hadn't read the graphic novel in years, and decided to wait until after seeing the film. I came out of the theater a tad underwhelmed, but this may have been due to high expectations. After reading the GN again, I believe that I need to see the film again...
"...not to mention that it had Jesus arriving on the scene decked out like a professional wrestler."
BWA-HAHAHAHA! You've suddenly made me want to read this book, Christopher! I can so clearly see Macho-Man Randy Savage as Jesus in my head that I may just have an aneurysm from laughter...
Heh.
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