*** Spoiler Alert ***

I saw 300 today and I have to say that I really liked it. I’m not a movie critique by any means. As long as there is decent action and effects I probably like it, but 300 goes beyond having just a list of fights stringed together. The movie has a unique graphical style that just works. It is by no means realistic, but at the same time it is not over the top with blatant effects and graphics. The graphics are well balanced. The scenes between the fighting are probably there to move the plot along enough to get to the next fight, but I did not really mind them. Without a few breaks in the fighting this movie could have been very intense. As it is, the fights are intense because they make it clear early on that not everyone is going to live through the movie. In most movies you know the heroes are going to win in the end, but with that idea gone it adds volumes to the suspense. A lot of times movies with large battles jump from person to person very quickly to try and convey the speed of battle. 300 instead focus on one or two people through each battle. I love this about 300. The fights actually show people fighting for more than just a half second as they kill their opponent. Sure, some people still die very quickly, but you see the warriors fluid motions as they fight.

My only complaint is the couple of nude scenes that seem to be added just for the sake of putting a few naked women on the screen.

300 will not be for everyone. It is what my wife would call a “guy movie.” It is bloody. It is not really gory. You don’t have people’s guts spilling out, but you do have a lot of blood flying around. Also, it does not have the usual happy ending with the main characters walking off the battle field hurt but able to live the rest of their lives.

I definitely give this film two thumbs up, and I’m glad I saw it in the theater so I could get the full experience. A lot of movies don’t warrant the extra cost to watch in the theater, but movies like 300, with great action and cinematography, are worth the extra few dollars to see in the theater instead of renting it.