REVIEW OF 300
Zack Snyder has thus far made a career out of dodging bullets. Remake Dawn of the Dead? Yeah right- except he made a very good remake in a sea of absolutely dead in the water remakes of other horror classics. Tackle 300? Sin City wannabe written all over it- except that 300 takes Sin City on a run for it's over top imagery and overall mythic density. I for one can't wait to see what happens with Watchmen although I have my doubts even Snyder can pull that off. But the Battle for Thermopylae and the continued success of the graphic novel based film are in good hands here. While not a very nuanced film 300 is full of invitations to nuanced thought about the launch of democracy that this battle helped bring about.
I've avoided press for this like the plague knowing that my reaction to it would be intensely visceral. My advice to you is to see this remarkable film and make up your own mind as well without the intensely political rhetoric that is sure to color others reviews. I haven't felt so provoked to think about the nature of soldiering since my first viewing of The Mission. It's an odd comparison. 300 couldn't be more removed from that films largely pastoral imagery. And yet in its own way 300 pauses to allow us reflection as well right when it needs to most. Whether you are skeptical of current military conflict or believe in it as an unfortunate necessity isn't really the point here. But the raw distillation of the Spartan philosophy as it's come to be part of our mythic view of ancient warfare has never been clearer onscreen. The plot couldn't be much more perfunctory but the images couldn't be more breathtaking. Zack Snyder has taken the whole concept of sword and sandal spectacle to its logical conclusion and by trusting in the power of those images he forces us to evaluate how we feel about them even as we are utterly amazed and carried on the sensory rollercoaster of the action.
This is much more than mere battle scene after battle scenes between jerkin clad rippling musclemen. Frank Miller's astounding imagery and Gerard Butler's amazing creation of Leonidas are absolute in their command of our inner mythic landscape surrounding the Battle of Thermopile. And this is exactly what makes the film work despite a see through storyline. Unlike other image driven films like Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow or even the visually richer Sin City, 300 succeeds in carrying a myth to the screen and freeze framing it right at it's most powerful and iconic moments. It is, we feel, about something, about honor, and national identity. Many historical purists will cry foul and they too miss the point. Because the point isn't what really happened at Thermopylae but what we have come to believe happened, why Leonidas and his men continue to inspire.
The special effects in this film virtually cease to be special effects meshing with the graphic novel momets they are meant to recreate in a manner almost unseen in the history of film. Only Sin City has done it as well and a real arguement can be made here that while less emotionally resonant, less full of fleshed out characters, Snyder's 300 is the better of the two films in reaching it's more complex goal. All Sin City wanted was for you to mop your brow at the end and feel a little sorry for SC's denizens. here we are asked to feel sorry for teeth gnashing half mad soldiers even while our own country is embroiled in an increasingly unpopular war. Special effects? They are almost invisible in this context of death. Is there a modern movie who has painted warfare so vividly?
In an age that lionizes and demonizes everything there is an unfortunate tendency to regard myth as better than history. But Wilder, by presenting mere images, helps us understand why myth is so much better equipped to carry us into history. If we do not aspire to anything we betray our very nature. Men are made to stand for what is right, men are made to offer all they have in the service of what is right. History is there to tell us where we have failed. If the Spartans, who built there entire society around warfare, ultimately leave us troubled for the sacrifice of their young and the fate that ultimately befell those in their society unable to defend themselves they also speak to the above virtues. Their story is the story of all men in the fight to live lives of meaning, their deaths our deaths, their legacy the continuation of the ideals they fight for. Perhaps 300 is best summarized as a cautionary tale unless one believes that all there is to being a good human being is being a good Spartan.
