300
Zack Synder is one of the best directors around. You can disagree with me on that one, but when it comes to adapting graphic novels or comic books into striking movies, there is no other man for the job. Able to effectively make a comic breathe on screen, Synder has brought some of the best movies to life with his powerful film making. You’ll only have to watch Watchmen, one of the best superhero movies around, to get a taste of Synder’s sharp and visual film making. Perhaps one of Synder’s staple is his use of graphic violence and realistic undertones that utilises a deep and meaningful storyline combining the two for a spine chilling movie.
So here is the movie that Synder made that completely missed the mark toppling the plot and characterisation into a well like a bunch of Persian messengers. Yes, this is 300...
300 is set in the ancient times. Starring the brutish Gerald Butler (rearing his head in yet another Stale Treat,) it tells the tale of King Leonidas, ruler of the Spartans and his army. When a Persian threat hangs over the Spartan population, Leonidas groups together a band of merry men to go and fight for their protect their city. 300 depicts their harrow filled journey, the battles that they must conquer and an honour they must restore. All the while, a betrayer sets his site on destroying Leonidas’ kingdom from within. So all in all, this is not a very pleasant time for the Spartans.
Why Is It Bad?
From a mammoth Gerald Butler screaming his lines to the ridiculous gigantic Persian Gods, there is about 60 degrees missing to complete 300. There is so much potential here about the men going into their impending slaughter that it is disappointingly underwritten. The lack of character depth in all of our would be heroes means that the sweeping battle sequences, the extreme violence and those abs are lost under a sea of dull. Instead of making the characters leap of the screen with emotional journeys, courage and bravery, the men and women here are about as one dimensional as they would be if they stayed on the page. And I don’t think that’s the point of adapting a graphic novel to the screen....
Why Is It Good?
Trying to write this article without objectifying the muscle bound men who wear nothing more than tight pants and capes is a difficult feet. Let’s just push the enjoyment of Magic Mike for the BC’s to one side, shall we? 300 is immense because Synder makes it a wonderfully graphic and visually epic movie. Steeped in rich CGI, 300 is quivering with whopping landscapes, immense battle sequences and bloody scenes that are irresistibly stunning. It is wholly original, introducing the world to the slick style of Synder and giving the world complete and utter eye porn.
300 is that intensely good looking athletic person you fancied in school. You would dream about them, fantasise about them and on the whole, want to lick them up and down until they say stop. But the minute they opened their mouth, you realise just how bleeding vacant they are, making you lose all interest in them. Hopefully, by the time 300 2 comes out (600?) Synder would have smoothed out these faults, giving our hunks a brain to fight with, instead of just brawn.
But you know, you don’t have to get rid of the brawn.....
TTFN
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