300 is one of those films that people either love for the look or hate because it's all style and no substance but actually, I believe that both sides are wrong about the film. But let's begin with the story first! The battle of Thermopylae, in which King Leonidas defends his 300 Spartan men against the invading Persian army, led by King Xerxes. Rather than surrender or capitulate to the Persians, Leonidas leads his army to this narrow mountain pass, where he is outnumbered in the most extreme manner possible—and utilises the terrain itself as his weapon. As all the action takes place on the battlefield, Queen Gorgo is waging her own battle at home, working to get the Spartan council to finally muster enough troops to send to Athens, but it is being undermined by politics and betrayal and the Spartan council doesn't seem to be on her side.
My take on this one, which is the only way everyone reviews 300, "oh the visuals are iconic, slow motion, blood, gold and grey color grading, This Is Sparta, blah blah." Yes, this is all true, but it's superficial. It's not the style that makes this film work, it's what is being covered by the style. This is a film about the magic of a "last stand" outpacing the real "last stand.This is a film about the magic of a "last stand" outpacing the real last stand. Needless to say, they end up losing. All 300 of them die. But the film does not want to have the loss as a defeat, the loss as the thing that afterwards brings together all the rest of Greece against Persia. They weren't a decisive force in the battle, they were a decisive force in the story, and that was the thing that ultimately changed the course of the war. It's a strange thing for an action movie to be subtly constructed around and for a lot of people not to understand that.
Yeah, and how the film treats Sparta, hehe, it's not subtle about it, but it is a brutal society, children taught to fight from a young age, weakness was not encouraged, it's a culture built around the idea that dying well is preferable to living safely, hehe. Sitting through it while it's not that comfortable for parts of it, but for this is the point. Leonidas isn't just a good guy; he's a guy who has been raised in a violent extreme system; the film does not entirely conceal this, although the film does undoubtedly laud his stubborn resistance of Xerxes.
Gerard Butler brings this film to life through his sheer physicality not his words, and that 'this is Sparta' scene is a meme for a reason because, it was perfectly delivered. Yes, visually, I have to mention, the way it was shot, like a comic book panel moving, the slow motion during combat, the color grading, almost black and white, with the red of the blood being the one loud color, it's stylish in a manner that still stands out today when you see it again.
One thing I felt was a little less intense than the other parts of the film is the political maneuvering that takes place in Sparta; I think the film realized where it's strength lay and failed to fully invest in the other parts, some of the side characters and subplots. But even with that, it doesn't take away from the overall impact.
300 is not only an action movie about a famous ancient battle, it's a movie about how defiance, even a losing battle, can last after those who did it in the first place. That's why it's still relevant today, it's been quoted, memed, referenced time and time again, and more and more, because the idea that is beneath all the flash really sticks. Style brought people into the door, but the myth was what got them talking about it years later.
Rating: 75/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/movies.
