Thursday, February 8, 2007

Halfway Into the Valley of Death Rode the 300

Well, we just got back from an early screening of Frank Miller's 300 and I'm pleased to say it's just about everything we hoped it would be. Visually, it captures the look of Frank's graphic novel splendidly. It's a wonder to behold. The story is one of history's great tales of heroism and sacrifice and this film definitely does it justice. The acting is nothing spectacular, but utterly servicable. Good solid performances all around.

One word of caution, though: this film is as graphically violent as any I've seen. Blood sprays across the screen in great crimson geysers, limbs are whacked off with gay abandon (as well as with swords and spears), heads are stuck on pikes, bodies are quite literally stacked like cordwood. You know, basically your average weekend in Compton.

Still, as I sat there watching a battlefield strewn with thousands of bodies, all I could think was, "Wow, they've killed almost as many people here as Jack Bauer does in a typical 24 hours."

Go see it and let me know what you think.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Len,

Would you say the bloodletting is less-than/more-than/comparable-to the KILL BILL movies?

Anonymous said...

I found the movie surprisingly timely, what with its loving depiction of fighting men coupled with its indictment of the politicians back home....

Len Wein said...

Dave, it's probably bloodier than Kill Bill, but it's also a lot more stylized.