Warning! Spoilers after the jump.

When we first saw the trailer for 300 at the end of my Happy Feet DVD, Will and I turned to each other and agreed, “Well… That looked trashy. Probably not worth watching on the big screen.”

Last night however we ran out of things to keep us entertained and ended up going to see it. I’m glad we did, and now I have to say that if you are going to watch it, watch it on a very, very big screen.

The visuals and action sequences (I counted two, each of which lasted for approximately 45% of the movie) were stunning. It was extremely gory, but things were so heavily stylised that it didn’t feel gory.

As for the storyline, there is none. They feed you little morsels every now and then about how life is back in Sparta, but you know they’re not really trying. Those scenes mainly provide a chance for your eyes to rest, refocus, and prepare for round 2. (Save of course for when the ever-feisty Queen Gorgo skewered Theron, quite rightfully so too. Revenge is nothing if not entertaining.)

I was mildly disappointed that the best fight scenes were the first ones and they didn’t give us a grand over-the-top finale. I like finales. They could’ve also done a bit more with the Persian army overviews. Remember 10000 Uruk-hai at Helm’s Deep? Just imagine what they could’ve done with hundreds of thousands of Persian soldiers.

Now I know there’s been a bit of a political stir over 300. I see it as just a movie, loosely based on historical fact with the term ‘loosely’ used very, very loosely. It’s not meant to feel real, or be anything that was real. To be fair though, if those were ancient Chinese depicted as a disfigured, RuPaul-worshipping mob, I’d be slightly pissed off too.

It was worth the price of a movie ticket – a great movie it is not, but it is something new, unique and visually fantastic. And, pants are optional.

Becca’s rating:
    

Will the man’s rating: