300 - a Movie Review

How do I tell you of 300?

Despite the apparent simplicity of the movie (come on, it is a gorefest), it is actually quite complicated. There are so many different ways this movie can be viewed, with all of them being valid. One can find in equal measure reasons to hate it or reasons to love it and anyone can argue all sides. For me, there are plenty of things I don't like. Yet most of them were overwhelmed by the things that I came looking for.

I've never been a fan of comic books. Movies adapted from comic books, or graphic novels, have never really held any appeal to me. There are very few that I've enjoyed to any degree. I can't really say why that is. I have friends who are into the comic book scene and they have shown me some really fine examples of visual artistry, if not reasonable storytelling. The media simply never took root in my experience.

My first exposure to 300, through trailers, brought me face-to-face with what appeared to be a visual feast. It spoke to me the way a graphic novel might speak to a comic book fan. The visuals were so compelling, so powerful, and so otherworldly, that each image appeared to be a still frame of artistry.

If nothing else, I went to this movie simply to view it as one would wander the galleries of the museum looking at the artwork.

But that is an enough to warrant recommending a movie. There've been plenty of beautiful movies that aren't worth the celluloid they are filmed upon.