OVERALL
Holy cow. I believe I may have seen one of the fakest-looking movies of all time. I didn't get a chance to see "300" in theatres, but all of my friends were saying "Dude, this is one of the greatest movies of all time! You NEED to see this!" So I Netflix'd the movie, totally looking forward to seeing it, and then my wife and I watched it.
Halfway through my wife said "Gee, I wonder if he's going to do another speech?" And boom, right on cue, we got another Braveheart-esque speech by our ab-friendly good guy.
This movie was made almost completely with CGI, and you can tell. Just from the sky. That's what made the movie seem so fake. The slow-down-speed-up scenes during fights were tacky. Some parts of the story, including the Oracle, were completely unnecessary and seemingly tacked on. It looked to be made just for guys, so let's throw in another naked chick!
So yeah, I really didn't like this movie. I saw it already when it was called Braveheart, and that movie was much better. Of course Braveheart also had homophobic scenes (funny enough, the coolest looking character with the best voice was portrayed as a flaming "family" member... if you know what I mean).
You know what's going to happen in this movie, but I found myself just not caring. I didn't really like the main character, King Leonidas, but the actor who portrayed him Gerard Butler had great delivery. Sure he yelled a lot but he yelled with a lot of PASSION. I do hope this gets him some more roles.
PRO vs. NO
PRO: A lot of no-name actors portraying characters who stood out. If you forgot the storyline of the movie, you won't forget the imagery of how the characters looked.
NO: Just take a look at the overview. This was a story that's been done many times before (few vs. many), and it's been done better.
SIX WORD FINISH
"We're in for one wild night."
FINAL BELL
-- 2 out of 5 -- I love macho movies. And this one was dripping with machismo... so why did it not resonate well with me? How could I not love this movie? Was it TOO macho even for me? Or did it dip into the fantasy land of self mockery? There was a strong woman character, the King's wife, and you find out the narrator plays a good part in the story. Would I have liked it more if I hadn't seen Braveheart? Maybe. What if I play the role of a good reviewer and not account Braveheart? Then what? Maybe the movie would get a 3 out of 5, but for the main reasons in which I DON'T mention Braveheart.
WORTH THE PRICE OF ADMISSION?:
For me, no. For some people, including those guys looking for a movie that will make them feel better as a man, yes.
