In Pursuit of 300
It's funny that I started the weekend with a very heavy movie about the difficulties in life, and then ended it with a very fulfilled with the joy of death.
"In Pursuit of Happiness" stars Will Smith as a dad down on his luck and is putting everything on the line on a 20-1 chance of getting a stock broker job. This guy is unlucky. The movie is very good at showing how a family going broke struggles, and I really feel for Smith's character. Actually, it's been a very long time since I've been emotionally moved by a movie, and this one almost brought me to tears (ALMOST!). [spoiler start] The feel of the hardships Smith's character has to go through is almost akin to they typical pinoy "api" story, except that Smith's character doesn't rely on luck to succeed in life.[/spoiler end] This is a good film, albeit heavy, and it should be watched. Unfortunately, there is not much here for those looking for kick-@$$ action.
"300" on the other hand gives you action in spades! I'm very happy for Frank Miller, not many comic book personalities get to see their babies faithfully re-created in the big screen. Sin City was unprecedented in it's faithfulness to the comics medium, so I assumed that Frank would only allow 300 if it was at least at par. It was, and it used the new medium to deliver what Frank couldn't in it's original medium, making 300 one of the (if not THE) best translations of comic book to film ever!
It's difficult to describe 300 if you're not familiar with Frank Miller's work. The story is about the 300 Spartans who set about stopping the Persian empire from conquering Sparta (and basically the free world). Straightforward, and not quite historically accurate. What sets this apart is the ability of Frank Miller to distill the core culture and emotions, even with his factual liberties. Also Miller's literary metaphors were visualized in the comic, as one would use metaphors in words when reading a book. All his metaphors were faithfully depicted in the film, preserving Frank's original artistic vision, as well as adding a new dimension to it, mainly the dimension of motion.
Effects are top notch, fight scenes are amazing, and the artistic vision of the original was well preserved and enhanced by the medium! This is an amazing movie, and I highly recommend this to anyone over 15 and is not squeamish about the obvious gore involved in wars such as this (not to mention depicted in a stylish manner that could only be conceived first in comics).
300 is definitely not for kids and those who dislike violence. Otherwise, you're in for a helluva good time! This is one of the very best movies I've seen ever!
