The main subplot of the film concerns the Queen's troubles back at home with the corrupt and weasely non-fighters, namely Theron (Dominic West). West brings a nice zesty touch to his villainous role, and Headey makes her character a surprisingly strong woman. Their story is wrapped up a little too neatly, but it works well enough as a diversion from the main action. Faring better is the plot concerning Dilios, a loyal Spartan fighter. Played by David Wenham (Faramir in Lord of the Rings), he narrates the film with a strong likability, and ends the film with a fun scene.

Overall it's a well put-together epic that's a little too in love with itself; the constant slow-motions, "meaningful" stares accompanied by swelling music, and again, computer-enhanced glistening biceps and six-packs ultimately lend it a bit too easily toward self-parody. The effects make everything look very pretty (and yellow), but it's easy enough to remind yourself that the movie was shot entirely in a very small space in front of a green screen; the animals especially look distractingly fake.

The key to the movie's box office success, aside from the "it just looks really cool" argument, was the casting of Butler in the lead. The swords-and-sandals genre has almost been driven into the ground over the past couple of years with films that make the same fatal mistake: a wimpy looking hero. We got Colin Farrell in Alexander, Brad Pitt in Troy, and Orlando Bloom in Kingdom of Heaven. None of them were convincing leaders or leads, and that fatal mistake killed each movie. Butler, jokes about his six-pack aside, brings the same kind of fierce but playful charisma that Russell Crowe supplied to Gladiator.

I probably would've enjoyed it more on the big screen, but as it stands, it's a solidly made experiment whose undeniable success speaks much louder than anything I say will.

Special Features:

I can take issue, however, with the DVD itself. Its only special feature is a commentary with director Zack Snyder, although obviously this is because the single-disc version was released concurrently with a super-duper 2-disc version, which of course is more expensive. It's an annoying marketing tactic, but at least they released them at the same time so 300 die-hards won't have to shell out their money twice.

Movie Grade: B-
DVD Grade: C
Overall Grade: C+