300
Mar 24 2007, 02:14 EDT [updated Mar 24 2007, 03:03 EDT]
is in town and tonight we went to see 300. From reviews and personal recommends ( saw it) I knew what to expect. It was good. The plot is *ahem* Spartan but there is tons of blood and some rousing speeches. Lots and lots of blood - the gal next to spent a good amount of time looking at the floor. Other than that there isn't much to say. The direction was good and the visuals were stunning. Xerxes was as over the top as his sexuality was ambiguous. His immortals played their part well as the only ones that could nick the Spartans. The Spartans were men of will and wrapped in steel (err, bronze).
It is worth seeing in the theater but I wish I had seen it in a packed house instead of a sparse 10pm showing. The fact that we saw the movie in the People's Republic of Cambridge might have had an impact on the audience as well. Either way there was absoluting no cheering from the crowd. Although the script has plenty of laugh lines and I were usually laughing alone. I guess we were the only ones in the small crowd that had any comic book sensibilities.
Normally I wouldn't mention Antonio Banderas (ever, at all, full stop) but if you liked The 13th Warrior - a retelling of Beowolf - you'll like 300 even more.