The 300 Review

21st Century technology mingled with the awe inspiring tale of Spartan resistance to Persian invasion,300 is a must see for the serious movie buff or the casual viewer. Zack Snyder, of The Dawn of the Dead (2004) fame, has left no stone unturned in making the movie a landmark in terms of screenplay, cinematography and visual portrayal of an era which was ruled by the blood and gore of the struggle to usurp pristine lands and kingdoms.  The movie begins with the depiction of Spartan culture of abandoning babies with physical flaws on rugged mountains for the wolves to devour, educating the perfect ones in all schools of martial arts, fencing, stick-fighting and finally sending them off to the wild to slay the beasts and return unscathed. Leonidas (Gerard Butler) delivers an amazing performance portraying the King of Spartans, a man who symbolises the Spartan culture in every possible way. Lena Heady and Rodrigo Santoro deserve special mention for portraying the roles of Queen Gorgo and the Persian God Xerxes, respectively. The headstrong and determined nature of the queen who would do anything to save her king and Sparta, even be vandalised by the scheming Theron (Dominic West), is rendered exquisitely by Lena. As for Rodrigo, his portrayal of the demonic God Xerxes deserves special mention as he not only had to change his accent but also had to wear heavy jewellery all over his body, which is certainly not a comfortable job.  The eventual betrayal by a spy and subsequent annihilation of the 300 Spartans at the hands of Xerxes is not the end of the movie. The end, showing a renewed army of the Spartans rushing forth to destroy any Persian in sight, could have been better. But since this is a direct cinematic depiction of Frank Miller's graphic novel, shot in only 3 small sets with a blue green screen in Montreal and digitally enhanced by special effects, what could have been should be ignored for what is and should be thoroughly enjoyed by the Indian audience. [Written way back in 2007 for IBIBO blog...]