A lot of credit is due to the marketers of Zach Snyders new movie 300. They have sold the movie as a political allegory, an intentionally clichd sword and sandal flick, a graphic novel gore-fest, a Sin City-like visual feast and a battle-scene driven fantasy with each to the appropriate audience. But this movie is really a disappointment to all of the above.

The story for 300, adapted from a Frank Miller graphic novel, comes from the legend that says 300 Spartans staved off a Persian army of 6,000 long enough for the rest of Greece to assemble its forces and drive the invading army back to Persia. That act by the Spartans is said to be the one that secured the future for democracy, instead of the absolute imperialism installed by the Persians.

In the film, the Persians number in the millions and wave after wave gets slaughtered by the Spartans, until the Persians find a way to outflank them.

The movie starts out simply and effectively. The ethereal wailing heard in so many other movies of this type is present and we see the horrifying journey of a Spartan child developing into a practically unbeatable warrior. He grows up to be King Leonidas, played with exuberant intensity by Gerard Butler. Leonidas leads Sparta with fiery eyes, a chiseled body and a commanding voice.

David Wenham fights alongside Leonidas as Dilios, who doesnt mind losing an eye in battle, stating, The gods blessed me so to provide me a spare. He sounds a lot like John Hurt as the narrator, and takes us through the entire movie with his wise, dominant voice. Its something of a pity for Wenham, though. Having done this movie after backing up Viggo Mortensen in the last two Lord of the Rings films, he is probably doomed to play the second most valiant warrior on the battlefield for life.

The battle scenes are the best part of the movie. Two uncut shots of Spartans tearing through Persian soldiers represent contemporary filmmaking at its finest; these shots are coherent and exciting. The Persians send grotesque looking beasts and warriors against the Spartans. These include heavily decorated elephants and rhinoceroses, chain-masked magicians armed with primitive bombs, a martial arts army called The Immortals, whose faces are scarier then the masks they wear and a giant in serious need of dental care. The battle scenes are bloody, graphic, coherent and provide the best shots in the movie.

But it all goes wrong whenever the Spartan warriors are not on screen. The time in between the battle scenes is filled with boring political dialogue. These scenes supposedly suggest some commentary on the present war in Iraq. If this is a political allegory, then it is unclear who represents whom. Who represents America? The Spartans, who send many young men to die with no clear objective other than to kill, or the Persians, who are the bullying empire and think the world will do whatever they say?

There is simplicity in the early scenes and battle scenes that is lacking in the rest of the movie. Surprisingly, there arent enough of those battle scenes to redeem the movie. Instead, there is complexity where it is not welcome, almost as if the movie is too scared to be pure, graphically violent entertainment in the tradition of Kill Bill : Volume One and Sin City.

Reviewer: Andrew Prince - 03/15/07