300.

I want to go read the “300″ graphic novels now, just to see how close this movie is to the artwork. I get the feeling that, just like Sin City, you can find an accompanying panel for every shot in the film. Each one has that perfect framing, lighting, and composition that makes it feel like a graphic novel come to life. And on those grounds, as well as all the other technical qualities, the movie is a resounding success.

Let’s start with the visuals.. the screen drips with style. The dried out sepia tones that the majority of the movie is colored with makes it feel ancient and historic, like the images are leaping out of a parchment scroll. The Spartans’ capes are a deep, lucious crimson only matched by the constant blood splatters. The shields and helmets glisten in the harsh light with a rough, frosted texture that’s scraped and dented with old battle damage. The bare chests and arms of the soldiers look like they’re chiseled out of stone. The millions of flying Persian arrows fill the sky like a swarm of bees and blot out the sunlight. As the battle rages on, the bodies of slain enemies are stacked on top of one another and rise like a mountain range against the sky.

Then, there’s the fight choreography to accompany these striking visuals. Each one is perfectly executed as the 300 Spartans fight as a single entity. The camera angles are just perfect so you see the glint of their eyes in the darkness under their helmet. They wield swords and shields with a precision that harkens those ancient frescoes and sculptures of greek warriors captured in the heat of battle. Spear after spear sink into Persian flesh and Middle Eastern scimitars clash against Spartan shields. It’s a visceral experience, but my only complaint is the movie is a little too liberal with the slow motion. I would have loved to see more scenes kicked up to full speed.. but then we may have missed some of those perfect battle poses that were most likely lifted off the comic panels.

Visual details aside, we’re treated with some serviceable acting by a cast of little-known actors, which I think is a good choice. The characters seem fuller and more believable if you don’t recognize the face, but it’s also a compliment to the cast.. they do a great job of bringing fairly shallow and one dimensional characters to life. We have the fiercely noble, defiant-to-the-end warrior King Leonidas that you can’t help but cheer for; his stalwart second in command as the captain of the army that executes every command from his king with a boisterous enthusiasm; his beautiful and strong Queen Gorgo who is simultaneously regal and sensuous; and many faithful battle-hungry soldiers. On the other side of the battle we’re treated to a disturbing, exotic, gold-encrusted King Xerxes who has a demonic voice (that disappointingly sounds heavily overdubbed) and has proclaimed himself a god among men and dresses the part; his legion of soldiers, barbarians, slaves, and a horde of particularly fearsome masked elite soldiers called “The Immortals”. Each character proclaims those quasi-eloquent, grandstanding one-line phrases like “Tonight we dine in hell!” and “Immortals? Tonight their name will be tested!” In context they work, thanks to the conviction the actors have, but writing and dialog is not where this film is going to win any praise.

Similarly, the storyline and pacing are not great works, either. The story is told in flashback sequence, but the story doesn’t seem to arc very much. It’s essentially the story of 300 soldiers outlasting wave after wave of Persian forces, starting with the regular army, followed by barbarians, heavy horses, elephant battalions, and finally the Immortals. Again in style it may recall those epic poems by Homer but cinematically it doesn’t work very well. The 300 drive back each wave with very few losses each time. Predictability begins to set in as these seemingly flawless warriors continue the fight while the days roll by. Finally, a pretty weak, anticlimactic betrayal that opens up a second path for the Persian invaders brings the fight to a desparate conclusion. By the time minute 117 rolls by, you wish there was more. I would have loved to see that 10,000 strong Spartan army, inspired by the brave 300, crush the Persian invaders in one last great battle, but the film sadly cuts it off just as things get started.

On a visual and technical level, I think it barely edges out Sin City. It’s a fantastic looking and sounding film, and does an even better job than Sin City at bringing a graphic novel to stylized life. We get some choice historical-sounding dialog and some convincing acting that gets us closely involved. Beneath the surface, though, there’s not a whole lot here, and I think Sin City greatly surpasses it in storytelling. Still, it’s big, loud, violent entertainment that shouldn’t be missed on the big screen.