300 - Movie Review

In the movie adaptation of the graphic novel 300, it is my opinion that the movie is a

loose interpretation of the graphic novel. Some of the changes in the plot that I

immediately noticed was, and in my opinion the most obvious, in the beginning of the

movie where it tells the backstory or prelude of how the male children at the age of

seven are taken away from their mothers and thrown into a culture of violence, fighting,

and killing. The additional prelude or backstory in this case provides for the viewer a

better understanding of how Leonida's was brought up and the training and challenges

he endured to become king.

Another obvious addition to the movie, and something that is not found in the book, is

the secondary plot of Leonidas's wife, Queen Gorgo, trying to gain additional support

for her husband. All throughout the battle the movie frequently returns to the secondary

plot, where queen Gorgo is trying to gain the support of Theron to provide additional

troops for Leonidas. In the graphic novel it is expressed that the reason for Sparta not

going to war at this time is due to the mystics at the oracle who were ultimately bribed

by the Persians to go against Sparta going to war. By having this secondary plot in

movie it would lead the viewer to believe that Sparta did not support the war for

political reasons instead of as the novel portrayed it as an act of bribery to the oracle. I

think having this secondary plot in the movie detracts from the true meaning the novel

was trying to convey and is provided in the movie as an entertainment factor rather

then a contextual one.

A third item I noticed in the film version of the graphic novel was during the one battle

scene where they are battling the Armies of Asia, it is portraying this army as "using

their ancient magic" by them throwing some sort of black powder or explosive object.

This portrayal is totally incorrect and is just provided for pure actin and entertainment

purposes as black powder was not available or even invented yet. It would be another

thousand