Salvete, sodales omnes -
Tiberius Dionysius Draco wrote: There are several things that I didn't like about it. One of them was the constant introducing of new monsters. I could stand one behemoth fighting them, but then there was a rhino, the Immortal and some weird guy who had blades for arms. And what was the deal with those mutated monks? A bit too much for my taste.
It also lacked story. Of course, it doesn't portay itself as having much of a storyline but I found that the fighting got quite tedious from time to time.
Things I did like about 300: Well, the fighting scenes were exhilarating at times and I liked the overall style of the movie.
In the end, I'd give it 7/10. My advice would be to just watch the movie for what it is: a highly stylized action packed movie.
I myself went to "300" not sure what I would see, but expecting to be disappointed and frustrated, as we often are by Hollywood's retellings of stories. But, despite their MTV-meets-LOTR treatment, I came away in the end surprisingly satisfied; that is to say, by the end of the film, I felt for the heroes, was moved by their courage.
On the other hand, as Draco noster in effect pointed out, What were they thinking? A giant, alien Xerxes? Quasimodo as Ephialtes? An executioner Orc? The gratuitous rough sex between Gorgo and Theron? More trolls and monsters? And why were the Ephors turned into Palpatine-style lepers? Most disresepctful to Sparta, I'd say. Phew.
And yet, for me, the movie actually succeeded. And I see why: Their fantasy theater version was built on the MTYH of Thermopylae, rather than its history or our received lore of it. And that makes structural sense since, after all, they were starting from Frank Miller's graphic fantasy to begin with. And in the end it doesn't blunt the point: They dared and they died.
So there is still a good, dramatic, historical version of the story waiting to be made, if there's ever a market for it and a vision to realize that film. But in the meantime, I will certainly take time to see 300 again.
Valete.