300 by obi

Adapted from a graphic novel, "300" depicted the historical Battle of Thermopylae during the ancient Hellenic period. The story (if there's much to recount) revolved around the Spartan King Leonidas, who summoned 300 of his best Spartan warriors to stall the impending invasion of the Persians so that a bigger contingent of the Greek army could reinforce the city-states' defense. Despite prohibition by the Law of Sparta, foreboding of the Oracle, and unawareness of the Spartan Council, the King marched to war upon the mountain pass of Thermopylae, facing overwhelming odds and defeating a hefty number of the invading forces. Back in Sparta, the Queen Gorgo was fighting her own battle... to request the Council to send backup to his husband's warband. To no avail! The Spartan army's eventual collapse started when a Spartan outcast, Ephialtes, defected to the Persian God-King Xerxes and divulged a secret passage through the mountains which gave the Persian soldiers an advantage to outmaneuver the dwindling Spartan numbers. In the end, King Leonidas and his 300 warriors were literally butchered to submission before the Greek reinforcement arrived.

The movie doesn't have much to flaunt in regards to the storyline but the special effects, film settings, and costumes are awesome! When asked by my peers what I could say about the movie, I just tell em, "It's like a 'dark Troy' without an interesting plotline". It was jampacked with battle scenes, all of em are worth the effort of the filmmakers and are among the best I've seen so far. I like how the cinematographers conveyed Frank Miller's* sinister appeal on his graphic novels into the movie. Everything has a dark, gloomy theme on it that I could feel the melancholic air like I was inside the film itself.

*Frank Miller is the author of the graphic novel of the same title, where the film was based.

I see not much of a flaw on how the actors portrayed their roles. Gerard Butler (King Leonidas) has been very convincing with his part as a stubborn leader, and so as his leading lady Lena Headey (Queen Gorgo) who was very effective playing the part of a bold wife (no pun intended, you'll see in the movie why), willing to confront anything for what she upholds and for the love of his husband and land. Special kudos goes to Rodrigo Santoro who was the God-King Xerxes of Persia in the film. He acted the part so well but I dunno if they really intended him to look and act implicatively like a homosexual.

Summing it up, the aesthetic brilliance of the movie has well compensated with the simplicity of the story. Epic lovers will sure dig this one but those that are indifferent with gore and violence should rather not try to watch it. Six gulamans.