Fat Ninja

I finally got out and saw 300 last night. For the first time that I can think of, I spared myself exposure to exclusive clips and all of the other spoiler material that seems to accompany any big film these days. Instead, I entered the theater armed with little other than the avid endorsements of friends. I didn’t quite know what to expect from 300. I knew there would be maiming and death aplenty, and I knew the general premise of the storyline. I had restrained myself when I saw the re-released, hardbound copy of Frank Miller’s graphic novel sitting on the shelf at Barnes & Noble, mainly to make sure that my viewing experience was untainted by any specific expectations (the $30 price tag certainly made it easier).

Without any frame of reference from which to pass judgment on the film, I found 300 to be an incredible experience from start to finish. I know there’s been some blowback regarding the liberties that have been taken with the historical material, and as much as I’d like to empathize with this sort of criticism, I feel it’s my responsibility to point out that, at nearly every level of its production and marketing, 300 has never tried to sell itself as an accurate representation of the Battle of Thermopylae. That is, of course, just my opinion. I, like many of my friends, loved the film immensely.

Now, I think I enjoyed 300 so much simply for the fact that I didn’t have any expectations, and I didn’t really know what was going to happen. That said, I’m not going to regale you with specifics about what happens in the movie. I will, however, tell you that there’s a very real sense of the mythical that pervades every aspect of the film. From the narrative’s deification of King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans that held the Hot Gates against the Persian Horde, to the film’s unique and stunning art direction, 300 has a tendency to make you feel insignificant and small. It cows you with its propensity for grandiosity. It sloughs off the conventions of the historical epic and redefines the genre. It never abandons the mythos and superstitions of the historical backdrop to examine the events realistically. Instead, it embraces the lore of 300’s bygone era, making gods and monsters of men.

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