"Madness? This IS SPARTA!!!"
The "300" is a winner in every respect. It catches your attention right off the get-go with a story about the ferocity of the main character, King Leonidas. Leonidas was raised in the traditional fashion, he was beaten and broken by his elders, trained to fear nothing, and never to give up. As the story about his childhood unfolds, you find out that Leonidas has something inside of him, something that can only be described as complete fearlessness. When approached by a full grown wolf when he was no more than 12 years old, he uses an intricate war strategy to get an advantage over the wolf and defeat him.
Over 30 years later, Leonidas becomes King of Sparta and starts off with a scene of him training his own son to become a Spartan Warrior and King. He tells his son to always fight with Respect and Honor. He then comes out of the fighting chamber only to be approached by a Persian emissary. The Persian emissary demands only two things for his King, Xerxes, land and water. He demands that the Spartans give King Xerxes land and water to show him that he will submit to King Xerxes. Of course, King Leonidas and the ideals of the Spartan empire, he declines the offer with this short segment of the scene:
Over 30 years later, Leonidas becomes King of Sparta and starts off with a scene of him training his own son to become a Spartan Warrior and King. He tells his son to always fight with Respect and Honor. He then comes out of the fighting chamber only to be approached by a Persian emissary. The Persian emissary demands only two things for his King, Xerxes, land and water. He demands that the Spartans give King Xerxes land and water to show him that he will submit to King Xerxes. Of course, King Leonidas and the ideals of the Spartan empire, he declines the offer with this short segment of the scene:
[King Leonidas pulls a knife on the Persian Emissary]
Persian Emissary: "This is madness!"
King Leonidas: "Madness?"
[Leonidas looks toward his wife who gives him a nod of the head]
King Leonidas: "This is Sparta!"
[Leonidas kicks the Persian Emissary into a bottomless pit along with his Persian Guards]
After killing the Persian Emissary and his guards, King Leonidas unofficially claims war with the Persians. So King Leonidas must go to the top of the mountain and speak with ancient priests that guard the Oracle. The Oracle tells him that the Spartans will not go to war. So, King Leonidas takes 300 of his greatest warriors and takes what he describes to a sceptic politician as a "stroll north."
Following this first 30-45 minutes of the movie comes the next hour and a half of almost non-stop war between 300 Spartans and 1,000,000 Persians. After the first two waves of attack, and two defeats for the Persians, King Xerxes, who also refers to himself as a god, comes to King Leonidas to explain to him that he will not win the war. Xerxes tells Leonidas that he need only to kneel before him and Xerxes will call off the war. He basically sweet talks Leonidas, telling him that Sparta will still be the grandest empire of all, but will be under the rule of Xerxes. Keeping along with his bold sense of humor, Leonidas tells Xerxes that he would kneel to him, but he cramped a leg muscle in battle and now he can't find the strength to kneel.
If you want to know what else happens you will definitely have to watch the movie. Let me just say that of all of the other movies in this genre, (Gladiator, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven), "300" is by far the best. It has the best action scenes ever created, and keeps the audience wanting to come back for more.
Things that I would change: There is a close-up shot of a horse riding in the beginning, and it kicks dirt up into the camera, but you can tell that the dirt is CG, and very poorly done CG too. Another thing is the blood. There was enough to keep it realistic, but half of the blood just looked terrible, like they didn't take very much time making in look real, and the other half of the blood looked amazing. If they would have stuck with the second method of "bloodying" the set, that would have probably been best.
Following this first 30-45 minutes of the movie comes the next hour and a half of almost non-stop war between 300 Spartans and 1,000,000 Persians. After the first two waves of attack, and two defeats for the Persians, King Xerxes, who also refers to himself as a god, comes to King Leonidas to explain to him that he will not win the war. Xerxes tells Leonidas that he need only to kneel before him and Xerxes will call off the war. He basically sweet talks Leonidas, telling him that Sparta will still be the grandest empire of all, but will be under the rule of Xerxes. Keeping along with his bold sense of humor, Leonidas tells Xerxes that he would kneel to him, but he cramped a leg muscle in battle and now he can't find the strength to kneel.
If you want to know what else happens you will definitely have to watch the movie. Let me just say that of all of the other movies in this genre, (Gladiator, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven), "300" is by far the best. It has the best action scenes ever created, and keeps the audience wanting to come back for more.
Things that I would change: There is a close-up shot of a horse riding in the beginning, and it kicks dirt up into the camera, but you can tell that the dirt is CG, and very poorly done CG too. Another thing is the blood. There was enough to keep it realistic, but half of the blood just looked terrible, like they didn't take very much time making in look real, and the other half of the blood looked amazing. If they would have stuck with the second method of "bloodying" the set, that would have probably been best.
Now that you have heard what I have to say about the movie, please, go and watch it yourself and let me if you agreed or disagreed with my Critique on the "300". Overall Rating: 9.7/10
