300

I managed to miss 300 at the cinema (our local multiplex never keeps anything I'd like to see for more than about 5 minutes!) but caught it on DVD the other week. I really enjoyed Sin City, which I know isn't for everyone but is an incredible translation, almost frame for frame, from the graphic novel to the screen, so I was really interested to see how 300 turned out.

300 is a film adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name which tells his version of the Battle of Thermopylae, the legendary stand by a small force of Greeks, led by King Leonidas and 300 Spartan warriors, which held off the enormous army of the Persian King Xerxes who was intent on conquering all of Greece.

Clearly the movie isn't intended to be a historical account of the battle and, indeed, nor was the graphic novel. Rather it is a retelling of the legend and so the massive amounts of artistic licence can be forgiven. Some of the accents are a little incongruous and the outfits are a little briefer than I suspect they would have been in reality and as for Xerxes well...

But the visual style of the film and the choreographed action sequences more than make up for some of the more "fantastic" elements. The style is quite different to Sin City but it has a real impact of its own and, as long as you don't watch it expecting a historical account but rather an interpretation of the legend you'll have a blast!