| 300 (2007) Cast:Gerard Butler, Lena Headley The Spartan king (Butler) leads his 300 troops against an endless sea of Persian warriors, when not fighting the Spartan queen (Headley) is handling the politics home and of course through out the film the spartans love battle and look to die with honor. Style over substance is the name of the game here. The movie starts off modestly enjoyable and the look is certainly breathtaking but then the movie hits a standstill and the movie becomes repetitive and goes nowhere after awhile. Also the problem is that the bad guys the Spartans are fighting aren't all that interesting, indeed with the action sequences so CGIed it becomes quite dull to watch after times. The battle sequences in particular are often unexciting and the subplot involving the politics back home in Sparta adds nothing interesting to the mix and basically the movie never picks up momentum. It is great to look at, the set design is excellent and there are times when the film has some atmosphere but without characters we don't care about, with villains not really interesting and heroes that are invincible, 300 becomes the poster boy of style over substance. Sure the film has a few moments here and there but through out the movie wears thin after awhile and director Snyder just can't maintain the action element or the suspense levels. In the end, the film is just a big budget bore. D.Zack Snyder** |