mrtacoman

This movie was amazing. The action scenes were among the best I've ever seen in film, as they actually let you see the action going on instead of that jump cut close-up garbage that is so prevalent these days. Now I've seen a lot of people complaining that the film's not historically accurate and what not and that's because some people missed a crucial point: This is an exaggeration of the Battle of Thermopylae. It nowhere claims to be a historical retelling, it is an adaptation of a graphic novel that is in itself an exaggeration of a legend based on historical fact.

Xerxes isn't gay, he's portrayed as a king who thought himself above the laws of man. He's decadent, arrogant, and a little unstable, which doesn't contradict the very limited historical resources available on Xerxes. The idea was to show that he believed himself to have no moral standard of his own.

Ephialtes is a twisted man on the inside, and so Miller made him appear that way on the outside as well. I don't think there's any place where anyone says "This is what he really looked like!" There are giants and demons, but again, we have to imagine that this is presented as one Spartan's STORY of what happened. And as such, details would be exaggerated for dramatic purposes. So perhaps there were no giants historically, but maybe there were simply large, foreign looking men. To the Spartans, perhaps they seemed monstrous. The same is true with the size of the animals, or the faces of the immortals.

This is the battle through the lens of storytelling. It's exaggerated, it's biased towards the Spartans, as it's a Spartan relaying the story. It never in the context of the film, nor in the marketing for the film, nor in the comic, claims to be an accurate portrayal of what REALLY happened.

And it's a better movie as a result.

When I first saw the preview, I like many of you, thought, "It's the Craft with guys." But it's honestly not, and it was surprisingly better than I thought.

I will say that the 2 leads, Steven Strait(Caleb) and Laura Ramsey(Sarah) are darn good looking and do decent jobs here. Jessica Lucas(Sarah's roommate, Kate) is gorgeous and does some serviceable acting as well. Nothing exceptional, but as both are just starting out, they showed potential.

Actually, that's what the whole thing showed. Potential. There's a good backstory that could yield future films in a series, a cast that was likable, a great visual style, some nice side-plots that could be fleshed out more, and I could even see this being turned into a TV series.

Visually, the film's beautiful. Renny Harlin's action skills are on display, and he doesn't disappoint. As mentioned above, the cast is filled with eye candy for both genders, with some beautiful girls and well-toned guys. The special effects are nothing revolutionary, but they're well-done IMO.

The soundtrack is awesome, and if you like White Zombie, you'll be happy about 1 minute into the film.

The villain is the low point, with some REALLY BAD cheese dialogue, but he serves his purpose as a foil for the hero. Some things are left unexplained, and I'm thinking an unrated DVD is forthcoming, or a sequel/prequel. Other than that, I enjoyed the movie.

I gave it a 7, which I consider to mean "worth a watch". Maybe wait for DVD or catch a matinée if you're skeptical, but I don't think it's a bad film. It doesn't aspire to be an Oscar contender, but it succeeds in being a fun way to kill 90 or so minutes.

I was expecting this movie to suck, but what I got was a pretty good slasher/gore film. Most of the death scenes are adequately brutal. The teens are decent, with Penny McNamee definitely the best of the bunch. Rachael Taylor looks like a young Christie Brinkley, but doesn't bring much to the movie other than that. Kane was good as the killer, and is totally believable as a fearsome juggernaut. I saw the "twist" coming from miles away, but I still enjoyed the movie.

But what really stood out to me was the direction. Gregory Dark might actually have a career in legit film ahead of him. Aside from overusing the horror film "speed cam"(you know, where like the guy's face shakes all fast?), there's some good shots here. The camera angles and environments really emphasize Kane's size, making him look even bigger than he actually is.

If you're looking for deep story or characters, this ain't it. But that's not what slasher films are about. If you're looking for some good violence, or if you're into gory films, go check this out!