BEST MOVIE - 2008 POLISHED APPLE AWARDS

“300” (2007)

Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Michael Fassbender, Tom Wisdom, Andrew Pleavin, Andrew Tiernan, Rodrigo Santoro & Kelly Craig
Written by Zack Snyder, (screenplay), Kurt Johnstad (screenplay) Michael B. Gordon (screenplay), Frank Miller (graphic novel) & Lynn Varley (graphic novel)
Directed by Zack Snyder
Poster Gallery

Polly Staffle Rating: ****

In war, there are those who fight to take and those who fight to keep. Takers attack those weaker than themselves. They are the Goliaths of the world. The keepers are about defending themselves. They fight for survival. They are the Davids.

The takers fight for the sake of greed. They want resources and control over others. Keepers do so for the sake of love and freedom. They want their families to be safe and intact. The armies of takers are commanded from a far by leaders that do not want to get their hands dirty. Keepers are led from the front line. The takers are scared to death of dying in combat. Their concerns are completely individualistic. Keepers don’t think twice about sacrificing their own lives. There’s no self. It’s all about the good of the many. Takers die cowardly deaths. Keepers die with honor.

Frank Miller’s “300” is about a band of soldiers dying honorably. It’s a tragic story, but one that offers hope for the keepers and a cautionary “watch out” to the takers. This a beautiful film in every aspect. If it wasn’t so poetic and uplifting, it would have been brutal and a real bummer to watch. Instead, it’s inspiring and magical, making me feel like a ten-year-old that is seeing and learning things for the first time. I’m taken back to third grade, when I saw “Return of the Jedi.” A time when I believed in justice and the ability of good to always prevail over evil. If not every time, at least in the long run.

Ladies and gentlemen, a new wizard of filmmaking has arrived. I can’t praise this guy enough. Wow. His name is Zack Snyder. His directorial debut “Dawn of the Dead” showed he can take a classic horror film and actually improve it. His choice to turn down directing “S.W.A.T.” because it wouldn’t be rated R showed the guy sticks to his guns. Now he’s taken one of Miller’s graphic novels and turned it into a masterpiece. This is a feat not even Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino could perform. Their “Sin City” collaboration with Miller was a complete lifeless waste of time.

“300,” on the other hand, is my favorite sword and sandal feature since “Clash of the Titans,” a film I hope Snyder gets to retool one day. There isn’t a lot of Ray Harryhausen-esque stuff in “300,” but there is a touch here and there, and enough fantastical energy to evoke memories of seeing “Clash of the Titans” at the drive-in and being transported to another world. This war epic also blows away that “Gladiator” and “Braveheart” crap the Academy Awards and everyone loves to eat up. Even more than that, dare I say this, “300” is perhaps one of the best fantasy films ever. It easily tops “Pirates of the Caribbean” and the last two decades of efforts by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. (There I said it. Don’t worry, I’ve turned on my email force field to deal with hate mail from you geeks out there in cyberspace.) Clocking in at two hours that flew by at warp speed, I didn’t want “300” to end. When it did, I was ready to rewatch it immediately.

Based on a true story from 480 B.C., “300” tells the story of the Battle of Thermopylae, which is essentially a lot like Texas’ Battle of the Alamo, featuring 300 Spartan men holding off the advances of the massive Persian army. Though the Persians out number the Spartans greatly and have superior weaponry, King Leonidas and his men use intelligence, fighting skills and sheer willpower to make a dent in the mighty evil empire.

The Spartans don’t have much. They have each other and the land they live on. They’re not struggling, but they lead lives that are completely contradictory to the Persians, who have more than enough of anything and frolic in excess, yet find themselves bored and want land owned by the Spartans. The king and queen of Sparta do not wear gaudy crowns or live in huge palaces. There are no servants. Most Spartans seem to be considered equals. The queen has a political say and the visions of young oracle girls are treated as unbreakable laws. On the other hand, the Persian leaders are extremely vain, wearing more jewelry than Mr. T and having as many piercings as the clerk at your local Hot Topic. There are many different social classes among their people. Slaves are beaten and walked all over, literally. The least important soldiers march into battle first to be slaughtered. Elite forces called immortals are brought in to finish the job.

The Spartans aren’t a perfect civilization. They have their problems and warped world views. When babies are born, the weak and frail are heartlessly discarded. The strong male babies are trained to be warriors in order to protect Sparta. That is their life. Survival of the fittest. The children grow up to be experts in face-to-face combat. This is no place for the weak. Spartans believe their soldiers have two options, either come back from a fight a winner or not come back at all. In battle they look out for each other and work as a unit. By contrast, the Persians have the ability to easily dominate anyone. Their resources allow them to not have to raise their children as soldiers. One doesn’t need to be an expert to rape and pillage a weaker village, killing the men, and enslaving the women and children. One doesn’t need expert fighting skills to partake in combat from a far by shooting projectiles, throwing explosives or using the aid of some sort of transportation.

But enough about the film’s story and subtext. This thing is made well top to bottom. It’s not just cool looking, it’s beautiful. The directing and editing are amazing. The music is dead on. Tyler Bates’ score is like a Dream Theater album. It’s hard hitting with a metal edge when it needs to be and pomp and circumstance when that’s called for. The dialogue is good. It’s not Shakespeare, but who the hell can follow “Hamlet” anyway? There’s also no hitting you over the head with politics like “Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.” The visual effects are solid. I usually hate CGI-driven films. “The Matrix” films are unwatchable in my eyes. But “300” was shot entirely in a studio on a green screen with 1,300 of its 1,500 cuts featuring some sort of visual effect and I am still able to lose myself in its story.

The fight scenes are highly choreographed and stylized. This is something I often hate as well. Movies like “Hero” never did anything for me. But it works here. It’s like you’re watching ballet or a really cool football highlight reel, especially the beginning of the battle with its kickoff vibe and the blitz of hard-hitting, slow-mo kills. The acting is good to boot. Like the Spartan army, the movie is led fearlessly by Leonidas, who is played by Gerard Butler. This guy showed us his charisma in “Dracula 2000” by breathing life into that dead role and now Butler has completely blown me away with this performance. He does a better Mel Gibson than Mel Gibson or Russell Crowe ever did. Lena Headey as Queen Gorgo is damn good too. She’s a strong, but sexy woman that, like the soldiers, puts herself second to what’s best for her people. Make “The Queen” about her instead of Queen Elizabeth II and maybe I’ll watch it. Oh, and did I mention this movie is jam-packed with blood-splattering, head-chopping, dead-body piling moments. Or that there are enough creepy half-man, half-beast creatures to satisfy the “Lord of the Rings” crowd and plenty of mythical maidens that ooze sexuality and partake in erotic encounters. The nudity isn’t on Jennifer Jason Leigh’s “Flesh+Blood” level, but things are pushed a bit more than say Aaliyah in “Queen of the Damned.”

I really can’t say enough about “300.” It’s a revolutionary work of art. It’s a movie that finally has me excited about the future of digital filmmaking. My only complaint to director Zack Snyder would be that it was over too soon. To me that’s the best damn complaint anybody can give a film. Before “Dawn of the Dead,” I was against remaking classic horror films. Before “300,” I always asked that movies look less like video games and more like real life. Before both of these films I felt creating movies from existing material was a cop-out that generally led to lifeless celluloid. I’m still against all of these things unless Snyder’s name is attached. Word is, up next he is tackling another graphic novel called “Watchmen.” I know nothing about the project’s story, character or cast, but I still can’t wait to see it. All I can say is long live the wizard.

- Chad Clinton Freeman, March 2007