SNMR 4.22: "300"

Tonight's SNMR feature is "300" (2006, R, 117 minutes), starring Gerard Butler, Leona Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Rodrigo Santoro and Vincent Regan. The film was directed by Zack Snyder.

I had wanted to see this film in the theater, but like many movies, never got around to it. Finally got a chance to see it the other day when I checked it out of the library.

HISTORICAL NOTES: King Xerxes (his Greek name) reigned from 486-465 BC. He is also known as Ahasuerus (in Hebrew) and Khshayarsha (in Persian). The events of this film take place between chapters 6 and 7 of the biblical book of Ezra. The Biblical book of Esther, in which Xerxes is a major character, takes place in Susa (or Shushan), one of the ancient capitals of Persia, from 483-473 BC. Susa was located in what is now the southwestern area of modern day Iran.

PLOT SUMMARY: A retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, in which King Leonidas of Sparta (Butler) goes to battle with 300 of his bravest, toughest soldiers against the legions of Persians under King Xerxes (Santoro). Back in Sparta, Queen Gorgo (Headey) must deal with the treacherous and treasonous Theron (West) and convince him to authorize the main Spartan army to join Leonidas in the battle against the Persian forces before it's too late.

MY THOUGHTS: I'm glad I waited and got to see this movie for free, rather than see it in the theater. The movie is graphically stunning with the combination of live action and CGI enhancements. The battle scenes are stunning and extremely bloody. The script is fair and the actors are good. Butler makes for a convincing Leonidas and Headey is excellent as the Queen. I wonder how accurate the movie is with the actual written history of the battle. What liberties did the writers and director take? There was, however, something unsatisfying about the story that just bothered me, though I can't say exactly what it is.

*** out of *****