I saw the movie "300" last night. This is another movie adaptation a Frank Miller graphic novel. You may remember the last one being "Sin City" staring some of Hollywood's favorite male actors. (there wasn't really a big female role. They just picked up some uber sexy gals to play those and the same is true for "300")

The first 20 minutes of the movie was cheesy. So much though that I actually started snickering during the cheesy sexy scene and then my boyfriend followed. The Narration (and I am fond of narration in movies, like the Royal Tennanbalms with Alec Baldwin) was not among the best and actually carried through the entire movie. It did tie together in the end as the movie was the retelling of a story... but why so much! The narrator spoke more often than any other character in the damn movie, a raspy voice speaking of first hand experiences.

The cinematography was much like that of "Sin City". It's really hard not to compare the two movies. The camera playing with filters, tinging entire scenes an off gray and then yellow, making the Spartans lovely red cloaks the highlight of nearly every scene. I don't think there was a single set for one scene of this movie. It must be awful to be an actor who works infront of a blank scene all day. Although the backgrounds were stunning tapestries woven of the new artists of todays technology, they were infact woven and nowhere near organic. Only a movie such as this could get away with doing so. Given that the whole movie was based on illustrations, we can admire the backgrounds and surealism the whole movie reflects. - To add to that, the battle scenes were outstanding. Although grouesome, and often horrific, they were relatively unbloody which I found odd in comparison to the poster that screamed, "blood and gore". I love a good war movie and this movie had a certain braveheart feel except with a prettiness that reminds you that you are watching a movie. This movie is felt like an adult bedtime story. Like a grims fairytale. The cinematography reminds you that, this just isn't real. I liked that.


For those who have not read the graphic novel, you may not understand that this movie is rooted more-so in fantasy than reality. The movie is based on the fight between Sparta and the Persians headed by Xerxies. The Persians fight with disfigured humans and monsters on their side. There are a lot of monsters in this movie. It's not realistic. It's not sapose to be. This could throw some people off when they are expecting to see a period piece.

Again like "Sin City" the roles of the women were weak and more or less eye candy for the male audience. That was a terrible pain. Some tits and a couple lines.. woohoo.

A big problem I had with this movie was that the characters were just as one-dimensional as the plot. So, I really could care less if they live or died. Every character in the movie was the exact same character.

In the end, hidden behind a strong viel of geniously crafted visual effects, the movie felt quite ammature.