This film is about style. I'm going to start off by saying that Zack Snyder does a heck of a good job directing. The story is simple enough - the big Persian army wants to destroy Sparta if they don't surrender. Sparta, a land of warriors and guys who work a little too hard on their abs, has too many men who are disinclined to surrender. Defying the law that dictates that they shouldn't fight, 300 men go to fight a battle.
Gerard Butler headlines this movie as the Spartan King, Leonidas. He yells a lot, and he spits when he yells, and I can't imagine that is pleasant for the people whose face he gets in. His steely gaze and primped beard give him the necessary gravitas to bring the character out as something worth watching. I didn't remember Butler before I saw him in this movie, but I don't think I'll forget him after it.
Lena Headey was in at least one movie that I saw before this one. She was actually in quite a few movies and TV shows before this movie, but I didn't see most of them. The only one I saw was The Brothers Grimm, and I genuinely don't remember her one little bit. However, in this movie, she brought a believable if too dramatic performance. I imagine it would have been hard to act just the right amount when you have no idea what digital trickery is going to be going on in post-production, but Lena seems to be the only one who really has an issue.
Dominic West plays the greasy politician who has questionable allegiances and is completely not likable from the start, so you know he's going to be trouble. It's important to make a bad guy truly unlikable, and the smarmy grin combined with the more obviously bad deeds combine to give a bad guy you can sink your teeth into.
The muted colors throughout the movie give it an unwolrdly feel, and that is exaggerated by the way they film the fight scenes, and this movie is really about the fight scenes. No, it's not about the WAY too many strange and inhuman creatures all over the place like the fat guy with blade arms whose only job is to decapitate officers who disappoint the god king. Nor is this a redemption story about Andrew Tiernan as Ephialtes, who just wants to be a soldier like his father was.
The fight scenes are what The Matrix wishes they had the technology to do 1999. This movie builds on the technology that The Matrix pioneered, and it blends CGI with tricky camerawork to build some absolutely fantastic fighting. Restrained gore allows the ballet of movements to take center stage and the flow of a single fighting scene come across as realistic and beautiful att the same time.
Direction was very good
Acting was good
Action was fantastic
Effects were very good
Cinematography was very good
4.5/5