Kathmandu:

The millennium’s past have taught mankind that war is vicious, degrading, filthy and doesn’t really solve anything. Given this, Art has over the years represented war as terrible, or on the other hand, noble, if being fought for a just cause or if it’s about defending oneself.

The pros and cons of war go on in debate and in comes this year’s almost first hit movie 300, which weighs down on the side of war is okay if the cause is right. 300 also suggests that war is even more okay if a small number of people are fighting overwhelming odds.

In sheer spectacle, 300 with its CGI anything-is-possible view, its noble sentiments like ‘Come back with your shield or on it’, and its consistent appeal to the fan boy in us is difficult to touch.

Glenn Kenny of Premiere was the only one who found that, “There’s really not much of a ‘wow’ factor to revel in.” Others, including yours truly, disagree, like critic Scott Huver who says, “Merging cutting-edge cinematic razzle-dazzle with resonant themes of honour, courage and sacrifice, 300 builds yet another visually thrilling and viscerally satisfying film.

Built from comic book author Frank Miller’s (Sin City) rock solid foundations, 300 is based on his vision on the 1962 film The 300 Spartans filtered through the same tough-as-nails pulp sensibility that populates most of his comics work. 300 reworks the real-life legendary tale of the Battle of Thermopylae, in which a battalion of 300 elite Spartan soldiers heroically hold the line to protect ancient Greece from the invading Persian hordes. The story focuses on the Spartan King Leonidas (Gerard Butler), who must not only lead his small cadre of troops — each one honed since childhood into a razor-sharp, battle-relishing warrior — into a battle they are unlikely to survive, but he must also fight for the fate of Greece and its democratic ideals. As the bizarre, seemingly endless marauding legions of the tyrant Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) descend upon the Hot Gates — a narrow passageway into Greece that Leonidas’ miniscule band can most ably defend — the soldiers take up arms without the usual post-modern anti-war hand-wringing that most war epics indulge in. These soldiers are both bred for battle and fighting a good fight and the film focuses squarely on the highly charged action.”

But the real star of 300 is director Zack Snyder, who with one movie has managed to establish himself and be the kind of director whose movies people go to see because he is directing them.

Back to Huver who concludes, “Even bolstered by canny casting choices and their washboard stomachs, helmer Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) is the true, indisputable star of 300, establishing himself firmly as a director whose work demands to be watched. With a kinetic sensibility that’s akin to Quentin Tarantino and John Woo, and using CGI technology to its utmost effects, both subtle and dynamic, Snyder creates a compelling, fully formed world that the audience is eager to explore. 

“Snyder captures Miller’s essence, even in the visual glorification of some of the most bloody and violent conflicts ever put to film, Snyder infuses the tale — which ultimately is one big, glorious testosterone-soaked fight sequence — with the sense of honour and sacrifice which characterises the most noble of war efforts. Yes, war can be hell, but this is a case where some like it hot.”