Movie Review Black Los Angeles

BlackNLA Movie Reviews

*****THE REEL DEAL: Reviewz from the Street*****

by Edwardo Jackson

BIASES:Early 30s black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare

300 (R)

MOVIE BIASES: Could be "Matrix" cool.

MAJOR PLAYERS: Gerard Butler (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider), Lena Headey (Imagine Me & You), from the graphic novel by Frank Miller (Sin City), and co-writer/director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead)

"This is madness!"
"This! Is! SPAAAARTA!" Black dude gets kicked down a well.

And so begins "300," a cinematic adaptation of Frank Miller's dramatization of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. King of male-dominated, warrior culture Sparta Leonidas (Butler) defies the oracles and town leaders to lead his 300 fittest soldiers against a million-plus invading horde of Persians heading their way to enslave them. Instead of avoiding a senseless slaughter of his people by kneeling before the equally arrogant Persian leader Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), Leonidas plunges the Spartan army headlong into battle, ready to die free than to live as a slave.

This much we know is true: "300" has more style than a P. Diddy garage sale. Brimming with nudity, fluidity, and gleefully excessive violent stupidity, "300" is all sizzle and no steak, a one page outline masquerading as a two hour movie (believe me, that's a compliment). All style with an almost boyish glee to the proceedings, Snyder & Miller's "300" is a man's movie about the culture of being men, war, pride, and all that other manly man stuff. Did I mention this movie's about war? Some of the rhetoric is so war-thirsty, I'm surprised the movie wasn't followed by "I'm George W. Bush, and I approved this message." Seriously, can you tell the difference between this line and a Bush stump speech: "Freedom isn't free at allâ€¦It comes with the cost of blood." The script consists of a bunch of elevated language all
saying the same things ("respect and honor," "Spartans are real men," etc.) while marking time until the next hyper-stylized battle sequence. Not that I would/did come to this movie expecting Billy Shakes(peare) but a plot would've been nice.

I could bore you with character but, let's be real, there are no three dimensional ones to speak of. So let's talk some more about this "style" thing, shall we? From the trailers, you know there's going to be luscious (some might say reckless) use of slow motion, which lends the action sequences an impressive, balletic look and feel to them (if not doubling the runtime of this story-thin movie). Mix in lush, CGI and blue-screen added landscapes, a rock-addled soundtrack (that tries to inject gravitas where there is none), and a cartoonish amount of bloodshed and you have a certifiable date-killer movie. Even each of the Spartans' 12-pack, quarry-hard abs look painted on (or Snyder hired the best nutritionists and physical trainers in cinema history).

There's a lot of primal screaming and posing, sword and sandal, style and mo' style. If that's all you want, then this here is a movie. If you happen to want something more well It's not madness it's Sparta.

@@ REELS
(TWO REELS)
Extra medium

Like what you read? Agree/disagree with The Reel Deal? Think he's talkin' out his...HUSH YO' MOUF! (I'm only talkin' about The Reel Deal!) Email him at EJAce1@gmail.com!

Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for UrbanFilmPremiere.com, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com




			BlackNLA Movie Reviews ***THE REEL DEAL: Reviewz from the Street*** by Edwardo Jackson BIASES:Early 30s black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare 300 (R) MOVIE BIASES: Could be "Matrix" cool. MAJOR PLAYERS: Gerard Butler (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider), Lena Headey (Imagine Me & You), from the graphic novel by Frank Miller (Sin City), and co-writer/director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) "This is madness!" "This! Is! SPAAAARTA!" Black dude gets kicked down a well. And so begins "300," a cinematic adaptation of Frank Miller's dramatization of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. King of male-dominated, warrior culture Sparta Leonidas (Butler) defies the oracles and town leaders to lead his 300 fittest soldiers against a million-plus invading horde of Persians heading their way to enslave them. Instead of avoiding a senseless slaughter of his people by kneeling before the equally arrogant Persian leader Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), Leonidas plunges the Spartan army headlong into battle, ready to die free than to live as a slave. This much we know is true: "300" has more style than a P. Diddy garage sale. Brimming with nudity, fluidity, and gleefully excessive violent stupidity, "300" is all sizzle and no steak, a one page outline masquerading as a two hour movie (believe me, that's a compliment). All style with an almost boyish glee to the proceedings, Snyder & Miller's "300" is a man's movie about the culture of being men, war, pride, and all that other manly man stuff. Did I mention this movie's about war? Some of the rhetoric is so war-thirsty, I'm surprised the movie wasn't followed by "I'm George W. Bush, and I approved this message." Seriously, can you tell the difference between this line and a Bush stump speech: "Freedom isn't free at allâ€¦It comes with the cost of blood." The script consists of a bunch of elevated language all saying the same things ("respect and honor," "Spartans are real men," etc.) while marking time until the next hyper-stylized battle sequence. Not that I would/did come to this movie expecting Billy Shakes(peare) but a plot would've been nice. I could bore you with character but, let's be real, there are no three dimensional ones to speak of. So let's talk some more about this "style" thing, shall we? From the trailers, you know there's going to be luscious (some might say reckless) use of slow motion, which lends the action sequences an impressive, balletic look and feel to them (if not doubling the runtime of this story-thin movie). Mix in lush, CGI and blue-screen added landscapes, a rock-addled soundtrack (that tries to inject gravitas where there is none), and a cartoonish amount of bloodshed and you have a certifiable date-killer movie. Even each of the Spartans' 12-pack, quarry-hard abs look painted on (or Snyder hired the best nutritionists and physical trainers in cinema history). There's a lot of primal screaming and posing, sword and sandal, style and mo' style. If that's all you want, then this here is a movie. If you happen to want something more well It's not madness it's Sparta. @@ REELS (TWO REELS) Extra medium Like what you read? Agree/disagree with The Reel Deal? Think he's talkin' out his...HUSH YO' MOUF! (I'm only talkin' about The Reel Deal!) Email him at EJAce1@gmail.com! Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for UrbanFilmPremiere.com, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com Â© 2004, Edwardo Jackson