300

Frank Miller has always worked better on paper (and even that hasn't been great as of a certain point). 300 may not be a total loss, but the ravages of time have gnawed away at it after only a decade. On the other hand, we can thank this phenomenon for the creation of the competing Spartacus series, which is simply much better in many ways. The comic book of the same name is legendary, but unfortunately, a sequel was released 20 years later. (2011-12-01)

Oops. This is no mega epic. 300 is a modest experiment based on a ten-page screenplay and with nice blue-screen backgrounds. The dialogue pretends to be so serious and cool that it’s laughable. The story recycles what we’ve already been told by Braveheart and Gladiator, only shortened and focusing exclusively on the visual aspect. It’s nice to look at and the battle scenes are well done, but everything else is bland. If not for the slow-motion shots, 300 would barely run 60 minutes. It’s fine for what it is, but I hope it doesn’t herald the start of a new film subgenre. (2007-03-13)

Snyder is here to entertain! An elegant recycler of the classic sandal adventure and heroic epic wrapped in a beautifully re-styled audiovisual package that has very little to do with history itself, and the search for historical context can hardly be called viewer ignorance. The vast majority of current productions are in the same boat, so why nitpick here when it's clear from the start that the pathetic phrase will be part of every Leonidas (Gerard Butler, the most charismatic leader of the screen a few years back, scores points!) monologue, the purely macho speech of every dialogue, and that the battle will be nothing but visual gluttony of the finest quality? I enjoyed 300 for its relative originality, down to the last drop of digitally redacted blood the characters shed, and I’m certainly not worried about the future of other Hollywood productions. There have already been several similar booms, and in a few years, young angry teens will find their new cult. It is rather surprising how many people, after seeing 300, suddenly crave pure awesomeness, which has survived (and will survive) everything. (2007-04-29)

Both an excellent start and conclusion and... And in the meantime, there is only filler, which is not boring only thanks to the charismatic Butler and the artistic component, which eventually becomes too much. It isn’t completely fair to reproach 300 for its unmistakable macho and even fascist façade, but to criticize its boring action scenes is. The middle part is mostly the clash between the brave Spartans and Persian masses, but the action itself somehow lacks juice. Which is a big problem with this type of movie. Paradoxically, the biggest plus doesn’t come until the stylized final credits. (2007-03-30)

The film has a nice visual aspect, but the rest is sterile or conceptually problematic. I once invested an incredible 50 bucks in Miller's comic book, influenced by the claim that it is one of the most significant works of comic creation. There is no doubt that it was the worst investment I have ever made in the world of books. Ideologically, it felt like a guide for a young fascist through the world of life values, not to mention the lack of historical credibility, only the visual concept stood out... Overall impression: 40%. (2010-09-25)