Movie Review: 300

After the Hollywood dumping-ground doldrums that are January and February, March is ushered in like a lion with the release of the Spartan swords-and-sandals epic "300."

The best thing about this film is that its creators remembered why people come to the movies in the first place - to be entertained. There's no effort here to impress people with anything other than the most mind-blistering special effects and visceral battle sequences.

Usually during these types of movies audience members must slog through a lot of teary-eyed love scenes ("Alexander"), a lot of forced dialogue ("Troy") and a lot of directorial ambitions that don't pan out (um, "Troy" and "Alexander").

"300" doesn't waste any time getting to the point. There are 300 bad-ass Spartans, and they are here, more or less, to kick a lot of Persian ass. Or more like impale them with spears, slice off their heads with swords, or a more creative version of the two. And they look great doing it.

The story is compact and follows Frank Miller's graphic novel quite closely. King Leonidas (Gerard Butler, all abs, brooding scowls and battle proclamations) ignores the common council and takes 300 of his best Spartans to defend their way of life against King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro). While the King leads his men to what is almost certain death, his wife, Queen Gorgo (a beautiful Lena Headey) is left to deal with the straight and crooked politicians who decide if they will send the rest of their army to help Leonidas.

Several sub-plots involving an older Spartan and his son, and a Gollum-esque deformity (an impressive Andrew Tiernan) keep things interesting and add a sense of humanity into the otherwise expressionless Spartans.

Director Zack Synder is a master at capturing the look and feel of the graphic novel. Even the wolves with glowing eyes and the battle rhinos fit right into a world grounded in blood, sweat and battle scars.

Most surprising about a film hyped for its awe-inspiring vistas is that the very best scenes of the movie are close-ups. They feel like a punch to the gut - the view is literally on the battlefield, feeling the sword severing an arm. Outstanding.

There is a single major flaw in the movie, involving Queen Gorgo. One of her actions during the film is so far out of character, it makes her return to character a few scenes later even more jarring. Disappointing.

Of lesser importance: although the visuals are stunning, they do make for a few downsides. There are supposed to be 300 Spartans, but we rarely see more than 20 at a time. And although the film's cinematography is expertly shot, giving us the illusion that the landscape goes on for miles, it has its limits. By the end of the film, we feel somewhat suffocated, knowing the actors were limited to the soundstage they were standing on.

Finally, the quick moving script has one odd detour, involving oracles and King Leonidas that does nothing to move the story forward.

Still, most of this is rendered inconsequential to the jolt of excitement that "300" provides.