Zack Snyder
300

"300"... in other words, Frank Miller strikes again. Or better, he tries, but misses the mark spectacularly.

There's something big that's not right with this film, something that makes it decidedly inferior to its "colleague" "Sin City" and places it in the realm of low-but-really-low quality popcorn movies: the total absence of "substance."

The plot (Leonidas, king of Sparta, gathers the 299 strongest Spartans and tries to counter the imminent invasion by the vast Persian army, while waiting for reinforcements...) is simplistic, but for a film of this kind it's more than fine, indeed in theory it should offer epic clashes, legendary battles and keep us glued to our seats.

Too bad, however, that the characters are completely devoid of depth, rather they're as thin as tissue paper... Leonidas is a concentrate of stereotypes and rhetoric, and his allies are no better: you can't tell one Spartan from another except by their haircut... Even Xerxes is a half-villain, since he's always ready to grant forgiveness (!!) to anyone and never kills anyone... unbelievable.

The combat scenes, which should be the strength of the film (as they occupy 90% of it) are certainly surprising and successful, at least in the second half of the film, when the enemies are a bit tougher... in contrast, the first half feels like a Bud Spencer and Terence Hill movie, or an episode of "Walker Texas Ranger" with the Persians as the stupid villains only good at saying "Ay-yaaah!" and doing ninja-style moves, only to fly dozens of meters at the first contact with the Spartan on duty.

Incredible then the dialogues, practically composed only of ultra-rhetorical catchphrases, which frankly come across as cloying and ridiculous especially in such massive doses... and more so are further ruined by a truly, truly dreadful Italian dubbing! In a film like this it's essential for the characters to at least seem to believe in the nonsense they are saying, and yet not even this...zero from the voice actors: absolute zero.

Regarding the purely aesthetic aspect, hats off to the film's spectacular nature (also in HD), which offers even greater visual delights than "Sin City", with extensive use of excellent computer graphics, splendid light effects almost entirely digital and a thousand other technological feats (post-production lasted almost a year!).

However, such extreme (and somewhat excessive) attention to form still demands a decent content (and here good old "Sin City" returns), otherwise it's like facing a beautiful but completely empty shell.