300

I like comic books as much as the next guy who used to work in a comic-book store, and I have enjoyed some comic-book movies in my time. The movie 300 is based on a graphic novel (read: comic book for grown-ups) by the legendary Frank Miller (responsible for reviving the comic-book fortunes of Batman and Daredevil among others), which in turn was based on an old movie called 300 Spartans, which in turn was based on a 2,500-year-old battle between the Ancient Greeks and the Persians. So, we're talking historical re-enactment or re-telling.

First up, 300 is so full of close-ups that it was obviously designed with Blu-ray Disc in mind. And on that level the faux reality looks quite amazing.

But. And it's a big but.

The script is fucking appalling. Also, the acting is by and large very bad (none of the actors are good enough to single out by name here), and the direction (of the actors at least) would appear to be average. What is good, though -- indeed, very good -- is the fight choreography.

And that's about all.

And another thing: the CGI blood spatters were soooo ripped off of Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi (2003)... Grr. And the CGI wolf was really bad.

I wasn't disappointed as such, because I expected nothing. This is not a patch on Sin City, also based on a Miller graphic novel. I'll give 300 52 points out of 100.