300

Based on the Greek legend of 300 Spartans holding off a horde of Persians numbering in the tens of thousands, the story is not meant to be realistic, and this is reflected in the filmmaking: a large portion of the movie is shot in slow motion, and the production was filmed in front of green screens with computer-designed backgrounds. Even with the artifice, the bloodletting is graphically realistic, illustrating just about every way a person could die by a wielded sword. With wave after wave of marauding enemies, the plot plays out like a zombie movie. And how appropriate, as director Zack Snyder cut his teeth with the 2004 version of Dawn of the Dead. In fact, 300 often feels like an extension of the exhilirating opening 10 minutes of that remake, and that is a very good thing indeed.

Gerard Butler (The Phantom of the Opera) is appropriately imposing as King Leonidas, and the brief scenes that lay out the plot give him room to build an epic character with very few words. Homoerotic subtext is seemingly unwritten but also unavoidable given all the buff, sweaty men with little to wear; Snyder compensates by including a steamy sexual relationship between Leonidas and Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey), a power struggle between Gorgo and slimy Theron (Dominic West), and the nude Oracle (Kelly Craig) who is so prominent in the trailers.

But with all that out of the way, the action can begin, and it rarely lets up. Waves of progressively more monstrous Persians induce goosebumps and spontaneous applause from audiences, and the copious bloodletting adds color to the sepia-toned palette. Try to find a single frame of this film that is less than breathtaking, or would feel out of place in a graphic novel. Like Sin City before it, 300 is true to Frank Miller's vision, and to quote the fan boy within, fucking kicks ass to boot.