300 is an American fantasy action motion picture adapted from the Frank Miller graphic novel of the same name. It received mixed reviews from critics but enjoyed widespread commercial success.
Praised For Effects, Panned For Politics
300 is visually stunning; its green-screen effects particularly impressive in the recreation of the look and feel -- down to specific panels -- of the Frank Miller graphic novel. Overall, 300 received very mixed reviews, and some critics (including activists and the Iranian head of state Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) denounced the film for its allegedly racist, homophobic, and misogynist message.
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300 Reviews (Good)
- IGN: 300 Review
- "Zack Snyder creates a masterpiece with this fantastic adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel."
- M&C: 300 Reviews
- "If it's comic books you want, you'll love this look at Spartans versus Persians."
- Access Atlanta: 300 Review
- "The film is both beautiful to look at and bombastic tripe to listen to."
- E!Online: 300 Review
- "But 300's expository scenes are only servants of the action anyway, a meager price you pay for beautifully choreographed battle scenes."
- Rolling Stone: 300 Review
- "300 is a movie blood-drunk on its own artful excess. Guys of all ages and sexes won't be able to resist it."
- SFGate.com: 300 Review
- ..."like watching marble turn to flesh and blood, and the effect is fascinating."
300 Reviews (Bad)
- NYpost: 300 Review
- "The big-screen comic-book spectacular 300 gives extremism a bad name. Its Spartan king gets off on his own throbbing rage."
- USATODAY: 300 Review
- "But the novelty wears thin quickly, and the excitement amounts to little more than a video game on the big screen. And unless you're a die-hard gamer, 300 will ultimately bore you with its laughably bombastic screenplay, predictable plot and echoes of Gladiator."
- Metromix: 300 Review
- "The film periodically grinds to a halt whenever the actors, including good ones such as Headey, are required to deliver that quaint old standby, dialogue."
- The Village Voice: 300 Review
- "It's a ponderous, plodding, visually dull picture, but the blame shouldn't be put on Snyder's skills per se, and has nothing to do with his ambition to blur the distinction between CGI and photography."
- Commonsense Media: 300 Review
- "300 is entertaining as an extended war sequence. But it falls short of reaching the revolutionary Matrix-like status that the film's creators claim."
- 4 Film: 300 Review
- "The whole film is like an exaggerated remix of reality."
- Salon: 300 Review
- "Even with its impressive vistas of computer-generated soldiers, is just a throwaway epic."