300

I watched this with a pretty good idea of what to expect, so from the start I was analysing it in a specific way. 300 is, to all intents and purposes, a good genre film. Lads sit down wanting an action-packed, blood-soaked ride without having to think too much and I would say that’s exactly what they get. However I do have to take issue with it on one thing in particular. It’s not believable. Now, of course it’s not necessarily trying to be the most authentic historical drama of all time but I believe any film needs to suspend the audiences disbelief for the whole duration if possible. 300 didn’t manage this at all and the reasons are I think obvious.

Firstly, CGI overruled the story. This film was created in a computer and it is painfully obvious. Not just the over-stylised colour grading and contrast manipulation but the backgrounds, armies and wide-shots are all so computerised it is impossible to believe in them. Sets are used repeatedly but with different backgrounds and sometimes entire shots are CG having never existed on film. To me this seems like a worryingly lazy way to make a film but I suppose it’s what comes of basing it on a graphic novel; many of the shots are recreated straight from Frank Miller’s original illustrations.

Secondly, the performances are not believable. I sympathise; it must be hard to genuinely get inside a character’s head when you are surrounded by bright fluorescent green instead of rocky valleys or fields of corn. Nevertheless it is the actor’s job to act and I got the impression that many in the cast were there for a laugh rather than to give a serious performance. Gerard Butler shouting “This is Sparta!” in a broad Scottish accent was quite enough to evoke the response: “Eh... no it’s no, pal!”.

Related to this also, and thirdly, the characters were not believable. If these men really had been fed nothing but combat and war all their lives I don’t think they would be quite as polite and socially adept as was depicted. They would not have real friendships, they would not be intellectually competent and their motivations would probably be quite different.

So this brings me to my fourth and final point; the story was not believable. As I see it this film was made primarily for the images – to reflect the graphic novel – then secondly for the action and then thirdly for the story. That, to me, seems like an upside down priority list. That whole thing about them fighting for ‘freedom’ is clearly just thrown in there to provide some filling in the sandwich of battle violence and hardcore effects, and because it sounds vaguely American! What is ‘freedom’ anyway? I’m pretty sure none of those Spartans could tell you, but they were willing to have a good slash-about, and ultimately die, even so.

So I couldn’t help thinking the neglect of story in this film left it sadly lacking but nevertheless I enjoyed it for what it was; a computer-generated action-saturated muddle of comic book carry on.