Attempting to sum up Frank Miller and Lynn Varley’s visually stunning masterpiece, 300 with one word is impossible.
Based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C.; Words like epic and brilliant quickly come to mind when one first views 300.
With Zack Snyder at the helm to give live vision to Miller’s work, the color rendering of the fields and mountains of Sparta are magnificent to behold on the big screen. The actors seem to be channeling their comic book counterpart, Gerard Butler’s portrayal of King Leonidas leading 300 of the best Spartan soldiers he has to offer to their inevitable deaths is masterful and the cinematic depiction of the Persian hordes being led by the God-King Xerxes, played by Rodrigo Santoro, is breathtaking to behold.
No doubt, the scenes of battle will have you gasping and cheering for the Spartan soldiers as they valiantly fight against immeasurable odds to protect their country and the freedom of their people.
No other comic book writer has received greater film acclaim for their direct graphic novel to movie transitions than Frank Miller; the iconic success of his star studded first film, Sin City which followed the hard luck tales of three strangers are all intertwined by the dark underworld of Sin City.
With Sin City 2 already in post-production and the announcement of Sin City 3 to begin production soon Frank Miller is the best thing to happen to pulp cinema since Quentin Tarantino.