To many, this is a must-watch movie. I went to it without reading the comic, not because I had planned it that way. This is the third comic based movie (other than superheroes) I haven’t read prior to watching the movie. Sin City and V for Vendetta being the other two.
The movie is highly enjoyable, the war sequences are great, the cinematography is amazing, art design is superb, and most of the characters are, though bit shallow, interesting.
SPOILERS PARAGRAPH - STOP READING IF YOU DON”T WANT TO KNOW KEY THINGS ABOUT THE MOVIE
Two of the best action sequences are Leonidas’ fight with the big monster guy and the fight of Astinos just before he gets his head cut off. Two other great sequences are Xerxes’ moral decay while convincing Ephialtes to betray the Spartans, and the sequence I like the most when Leonidas’ wife Queen Gorgo addresses the Council and kills Theron upon his betrayal. I learnt that the story of the Queen addressing the council is not actually part of the original comic book.
END OF SPOILERS
Not everything was great though. I have some issues with the flow of the movie. This is not the first time this happens to me while watching a comic based movie. The transition in the speeches is spotty in many cases which I presume coincides with the layout of the comic. This was the case with Sin City at least. It appears that the more accurate the adaptation the more prone for this to happen. I believe here is where not having read the comics actually help to analyze the movie by itself. The acting was a bit marginal with the exception of the Queen, Theron and Xerxes. The poor acting could have been a consequence of the flow problem I was referring to before, and that I can’t imagine getting the bodybuilder types to actually do acting (if not look at the governator and Sylvester Stallone). Most of the Spartan warriors characters are a bit flat. Leonidas perhaps being the exception but not quite conveying successfully the depth of the character.
There is a bit of the abuse of the slow-fast-slow camera effect. I mean it works most of the time, but it gets a bit old as the movie progresses. A friend of mine relates this to emphasize certain frames as a comic book would… perhaps he is right!… nevertheless there is no need to abuse it, what works in the comic doesn’t necessarily work in film. I was a bit annoyed by the music. Seems a bit forceful imposing over the visuals which is usually not a great idea in a film.
That was the end of my complaints…
Most definitely a movie for the theater, as long as you are not grossed out by the violence, which by the way it doesn’t feel gratuitous in any form, you should be able to enjoy it. I want to watch it again after reading the comic, or the graphic novel should I say.
