Indeed, “where have all the real men gone?” These are the words I find myself thinking after watching the big screen adaptation of Frank Miller’s 300.

My half-sister texted me two days ago, the day after I urged her to watch it – even if I hadn’t myself (was a very busy week for me)

300 is beautiful!

From what I’ve heard it was indeed “beautiful” in every sense of the word – and after seeing it, I’d have to agree.

Considering the fact that we live in a disgustingly “gray” world where politics, practicality, and compromise are commonplace just to get by, seeing the Spartan contingent deal with things in an almost obstinate, but black and white manner is truly inspiring.

Their “tribe” seemed to be simpletons – possibly lacking what we would consider to be “the finer things in life” during ancient times. But even by today’s standards, while they were not mathematicians, architects, doctors, etc. – what they were/are is what the world is sorely lacking:

Men… real men.

I was able to read the graphic novel before watching the movie, and I think I know exactly why the movie has had glowing reviews from everyone who has seen it – myself included.

1. The event it was based on (Battle of Thermopylae) was already a powerful tale. It was a very simple plot based on an inspiring historical event. While it may not be the best story one could tell, it’s plenty good on its own merit.

2. The sensationalism and embellishments applied to the graphic novel was very well done as well – as it was able to elevate an already decent and inspiring story – into an even more amazing and dramatic tale.

3. Needless to say, the visual elements of the movie are superb. The movie looked better than the graphic novel – which is ironic since it was trying to “retain” the visual treatment of the graphic novel. Not only did it achieve that goal, but it was able to transcend it and make it even better.

4. The thing that really kills big screen adaptations is that there’s simply not enough time to tell the tale. The only movie that has successfully accomplished compressing a massive storyline into a feature film is Lord of the Rings – and even that took 3 installments (which were longer than the previous ones). 300 was a very short series which you can actually read in less than 15mins straight. This meant that issue mentioned above was practicaly non-existent. In fact, not only were they able to retain the essence of original text,¹ but were even able to add some sub-plots that made it even better than the original.

Put all of these factors together and you already have yourself a winner of a film. It’s almost cheating really. The only thing that could’ve killed a production of this caliber and quality is if the actors themselves didn’t deliver, which thankfully they did.

Overall, there’s nothing really more to say about this film other than you’d have to be an idiot to not watch it.