Director: Zack Snyder

Rated R - Nudity, Violence, Blood and Gore

Cast: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Michael Fassbender, Tom Wisdom, Andrew Pleavin, Andrew Tiernan, Rodrigo Santoro

Kick Ass: Reinvented

Coming into 300 it is important to know that the movie is a film adaptation of a graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller and not a historically accurate depiction of the actual event. This being said, 300 is an awe-inspiring movie. From the moment the title flashes across the screen in blood to the last slash of the sword this movie leaves your jaw on the floor. Every spear, sword, shield, and spot of blood is beautifully done. It's so good looking in fact that if you didn't know it you would never realize that almost none of the sets are real.

That's right; 300 uses more green screen computer generated effects than any movie to date. Almost every set is computer generated; the ancient temples, the rocky landscape of Greece, the heaving ocean, almost everything. The only thing you can truly count on being real is the actors. The expanded use of this relatively new technique has allowed the film's director to create scenes which could never have been done before.

The movie is about the Battle of Thermopylae in which 300 Spartans and their allies held off an approaching Persian army of a million men. The Spartans Held their lines for three days and inflicted massive casualties upon the enemy force that outnumbered them so overwhelmingly. The battle exemplifies perfectly what it was to be a Spartan; their fighting skill and their warrior spirit. The movie 300 does the legend proud.

Which brings us to the action. 300 will redefine your definition of bad ass. The fighting in this movie is so epic; so intense; and so “holy sh** did he just do what I think he did!” crazy that it will leave you gibbering about it for hours after you leave the theater. Limbs are cut off, men are decapitated, and Persian soldiers are slaughtered by the hundred. Oh, and it is bloody...very bloody.

But don't be fooled by all of the action, there is real substance here. Particularly from Gerard Butler, who brings a fierce and visceral energy to the role of the Spartan King Leonidas that really makes the movie what it is. His queen, played by Lena Headey, also brings a lot to the table with a solemn and very resolute portrayal. The acting in 300 won't win any Oscars but it is definitely far above par for the action movie crowd.

300 does have its flaws, chief among them being a handful of hokey action movie clichés, but the movie is just so groundbreaking and completely exhilarating that I wouldn't have it any other way. It drops you into the legendary battle of Thermopylae that is so intense that you can almost feel a spear in your hand. It's just too bad that after seeing 300 no other action movie can even compare.