March 26, 2007

300

2007 / Zack Snyder > One thing is undeniable: The film is visually stunning with visceral battle scenes that generally satisfy. However, the faithfulness to Frank Miller's original work keeps 300 from becoming a cinema classic. There are awkward, boring moments of long narration, seemingly infinite slow-motion sequences and not enough liberty taken to adjust and adapt to the different medium. The screenplay felt weak, with a storyline that tried to be a foundation for the action but instead just felt like a distraction to the meat. It has its moments—notably, the oracle and her mystical movements—and it may just have given birth to another generation of comic book films, but ultimately 300 is a film of enjoyable superficiality that should have been 20 minutes shorter.