300

300 is a bombastic, stentorian, and vivid fantasy, esurient for the gory glory of ancient battlegrounds in all their blood-spattering, limb-slicing detail, and punctuated with operatic speechifying about combat, death, and freedom. And yeah, it's a blast.

Based on an actual story from ancient history, 300 tells the tale of King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) of Sparta leading 300 Spartan warriors, against the decrees of the rulers of Sparta, to stop the rampaging Persian army with a last stand at a narrow cliff pass in the Battle of Thermopylae. Frank Miller, famous for Sin City, wrote the 300 graphic novel, and the film adaptation uses Miller's work as source and template, sometimes duplicating frames from the book.

The cliched and superfluous narration should have been cut, but the lean narrative works as a spare action fantasy, though the cross-cutting between the battle and Spartan politics in the last third of the film doesn't entirely work. There's no depth here, of course, and the dialogue is often layered with cheese ("Tonight we dine in Hell!") and delivered at earsplitting volume. We're not talking subtlety here, obviously, but the film succeeds on a primal, visceral level, and the hyper-visual stylization results in several beautiful sequences. The film is shot almost as a digital watercolour, with mocha skies and dark, vivid reds in the Spartan capes and copious blood that spatters artfully across the screen. The visual style almost makes the film into a science fiction fantasy that was shot on some alien world (it's easy to imagine it as akin to an R-rated film version of Burrough's A Princess of Mars) but it is an effectively dreamlike rendering of an ancient tale of blood and thunder.

Director Zack Snyder captures the fighting sequences well, slowing and speed-ramping key action, so that we can admire the combat form of the Spartan soldiers. There's no coy cutting away of sword or spear thrusts, either. In 300 the carnage that bladed weapons wrought is front and centre, with swords slicing off limbs and heads and cutting flesh in an elaborate montage of mayhem. This is definitely a film for those especially keen on decapitation.

The film does stray into oddball-fantasy, almost like David Lynch meets the sword-and-sandal genre. Persian King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) is a humanoid alien, with lidless black eyes, body adorned with sinuous jewelry like something from a Clive Barker story. Also lurching into the frame during the battle sequences are golden-masked Persian soldiers; squat, toadlike executioners with blades for hands; and a bald, freakish troll-giant who is unchained to wreak havoc. Clearly this is not a documentary; this is Lynch's Dune meets Gladiator by way of Cronenberg/Barker.

The cast is effective, but it is Gerard Butler who will benefit most from appearing in this film. Always teetering on the verge of a breakthrough, Butler plays Leonidas with great verve and gusto, and 300 should finally punch him through into some major leading roles.

Though a bit loud and overdone at times and undeniably shallow, 300 is a unique, stylish and effectively visceral cinematic experience.

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Directed by Zack Snyder
Written by Zack Snyder & Kurt Johnstad and Michael Gordon
Based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley

Starring:
Gerard Butler...King Leonidas
Lena Headey...Queen Gorgo
Dominic West...Theron
David Wenham...Dilios
Andrew Tiernan ... Ephialtes
Rodrigo Santoro ... Xerxes