My Review of "300"

300 is an epic action movie based on a graphic novel. The movie came out back in 2006 and I remember loving this back in the day. I wasn't sure how I'd appreciate it now so many years later but I was hoping it would still shine. In some ways, I still enjoyed it as I did so many years back but I also see some issues.

The movie starts off with a bit of narration from a character named Dilios. He's basically narrating the whole movie. It's sort of one of those starts from the middle and then goes into the very beginning kind of story. Dilios is telling us the story of his king named Leonidas. Of course being a tale from this guy it makes sense that the whole movie is of grand scale and exaggerated.

Basically he pains this picture of this glorious king that is the most righteous person ever. He learned everything from an early age at what would we consider today as child abuse. Pretty much all of the Spartans of the day had to go through the same sort of ritual. Each one of them are taught to be the most supreme warriors of the world. This involves beatings, lessons to fight and being sent off into the wilderness for a soul searching exercise.

These Spartans are upstanding individuals with high moral codes. Their primary goal is to protect Greece and uphold their freedoms. That basically means that they're supposed to be incorruptible and will fight to the death for what they believe is right. Again this is a fairy tale told by a man trying to rile up his army. Take it for what you will.

Basically, Leonidas gets this message from a Persian messenger. The messenger basically tells Leonidas to bow down to the the new Persian ruler named Xerxes. Apparently, this Xerxes character has been going around the world and taking over all of these places. He's basically ruling everything and the next thing in his path is Greece.

Of course, Leonidas being the king of Spartans has to decline but he does this in the most epic way. Pretty soon this message gets back to Xerxes and all out war is called upon Greece as a result. The politicians being politicians are eager to plead for their lives and beg for forgiveness. That's not in the cards for Leonidas.

Leonidas basically takes up 300 of his best Spartans to go to a narrow juncture to fight off Xerxes hordes of warriors. Wave after wave of enemies will come at them and they will fight them off because, well, they are Spartans!

This movie is over the top and ridiculous. I still remember why I loved this movie back in the day but there are some issues with this movie. Some of the scenes are kind of overly dramatic and kind of taken from other movies. I could really see a few of these scenes in Gladiator which is a movie that came out before it. There are similarities to a lot of older films.

That's not to take away from the art style of this movie. This movie is oozing with style and panache. In some ways it can come off as a bit corny because it takes itself too seriously at times.

Then again this movie is quite simple and focused. I liked the fact that it is an action movie at its core and it knows it. Most of the movie is based on awesome action sequences and we're given some of the best slow motion action sequences of the time.

Overall, I still enjoyed this one. I had a fun time watching it and I remember why I liked this in the first place. Though through the passage of time I can see how this movie is a bit corny. I don't care though, as a pure entertainment vehicle this movie does deliver. It's not for everyone, but if you're in for an action flick then it should be on your list to watch. I have to give this movie a 7 out of 10.