Four Reasons To See 300: Rise of An Empire
March 7th saw the release of 300: Rise of An Empire. Inspired by the decidedly macho Frank Miller graphic novels, on the face of it this could be written off as simply just another comic book adaptation, albeit one of the large minority targeting a more adult audience.
We’d beg to disagree, though, and as such decided to offer a few comments on the matter. Without further ado then, we present the four reasons we're excited about the movie, eager to feast our eyes on the contents whilst gorging on an unhealthily-sized portion of that Hollywood-proper pre-requisite, popcorn.
There’s a grudge to settle In the first movie, 300, we watched as 300 brave Spartan foot soldiers accompanied their king as he set off to try and hold back the Persian hordes. A ruling in parliament- brought about through blackmail, deception and bribes- meant the entire army of the Greek state wasn’t mobilised. Those honourable few stood long and hard against the marauding forces, but alas could only stay alive for so long. As such part two makes for something of a revenge thriller, with the Spartans no longer holding much back.
300 is arguably the graphic novel franchise that was made for film OK, so admittedly Sin City does a good job at truly realising the visuals of a very different type of comic on screen, and the Batman of our time proves traditional live action can also work seriously for the canon. Nevertheless, shots like the still at the top of this page confirm 300 was born for cinema. Aside from the huge history of the past presented on a silver screen (from Ben Hur to Gladiator), the uniquely fresco qualities to the aesthetic set this franchise apart from many.
The few versus the who knows how many We could write an entire article on all the great, gripping movies that have centred on outnumbered heroes defying the odds, but that’s for another time. So whilst 300: Rise of An Empire is set to showcase exactly what a fantasised impression of the whole Spartan army would look like on a battlefield- i.e. massive- that’s nothing compared to Persia’s troops, at the time the biggest empire in the world. The phrase ‘stand fast, lads’ comes to mind, or something along those lines.
We’re not expecting Citizen Kane Sometimes it’s important to take time and appreciate how variety is the spice of cinema. With this in mind, whilst many apparently less fun-loving critics have scoffed at the flick, we’re under no false illusions as to the fact this is action for action’s sake. So, whilst we hate to think what the historians are saying about all this, as far as our eyes can see this is one action romp that rates high on this month’s to-do list.
