I seem to be seeing a lot of dumb-but-fun action films lately; 300 was no exception. I was mixed about seeing this but I had heard enough good reviews and decided I wanted to see it on a big screen vs DVD. A cheap matinee was perfect.
The film is based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller (which I haven't read, though I've flipped through) about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. King Leonidas led 300 Spartans against overwhelming odds in perhaps the most famous last stand in history. I didn't know much about the battle but after the movie, spent some time reading about it in Wikipedia. The movie got me interested.
The rap against comic book films is that they are light on story. People don't say this about A History of Violence or Road to Perdition, but of course most people don't know those were originally graphic novels. Then again Frank Miller isn't known for depth as much as iconic imagery and graphic violence; 300 delivers.
Why is it that movies based on comic books try to stop the action and show static images while comics (usually) try to convey motion in a series of static images. 300 uses a lot of slow motion and posed stances (with maybe a little bit of wind) to look like the large splash images of the graphic novel. Often the camera slowly pans over the image similar to what Apple calls the Ken Burns Effect as if your gazing over the printed page. There are a few great slow motion battle scenes where you could believe a spartan killed a dozen Persians one after another. It's a little Bruce Lee but it's not like all the enemies are holding back for no reason, and of course this apparently did happen historically. Then it gets a little ridiculous as the enemies become mutants and while a single spear vs a giant charging rhino is completely unrealistic, it's also very cool.
300 almost kept my interest, I was bored at times. There's a fair amount of politics going on back home involving Leonidas' wife which I understand wasn't in the comic. But it's obvious that wasn't the point of the film and it seemed to just remove us from the action. And since the action was so often in slow motion it felt like things weren't advancing. I'll probably never see 300 again, but it was ok for a matinee.
1 comment:
That was an interesting review. I only learned about the battle from the History Channel episode, and didn't realize the movie was based on the graphic novel. That explains a lot. Also, the directorial and cinematic technique to simulate a graphic novel...interesting...I can't say I noticed it first time around but I will look for it if I see the movie again. I wish I knew more about cinematic technique like this....
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