300 is a visual miracle of modern movie making, and a stunning looking film that makes up for every ounce of its lack of plot by painting a brilliantly beautiful image over every single frame of the film. How’s that for a run on sentence?

In short…This flick Rocks.

The primary draw of this film is the visual beauty of it…and beauty is a strange word to use here because some of the images in the film are truly horrific and disturbing…but beautiful none the less.

Director Zack Snider took the work of Frank Miller and smeared it all over the big screen with just as much tenacity and love of the source material as Robert Rodriguez did with Sin City. If you’re a fan of Frank Miller’s work (which I am, although I have never read 300), his style and look are all over this film. I don’t say that to suggest that the creators simply copied Miller’s work, because they most certainly did not. They took Frank Miller’s concept and general style and created and entirely new work of art that is truly unlike any film that has come before it in many respects.

Like the greatest action films of the past, 300 doesn’t let too much plot get in the way of the gory and violent action filled scenes that are the meat and potatoes of this flick. If you’re going to this movie looking for a film that will make you think, make you weep, and make you question the world around you…go to an art house theatre, and leave this movie alone. 300 knows what it is, and very clearly shows you what to expect when you watch the trailer. You’re not getting much more than the trailer promises, but it certainly lives up to hype those fantastic previews promised.

I saw this film with two old friends, and each of us enjoyed the movie for what it was…we didn’t go in expecting Shakespeare, and we came out having watched a bloody, savage, completely engrossing fist fight of a movie.

If you like action, you’re going to love this movie. If you marvel at stunning visuals on film, you’re going to love this movie. If you have ever wanted to just get up and whoop some ass you will love this movie. You will find yourself living vicariously through these characters, and ready to fight an army of uncountable proportions when you walk out of the theater.

I enjoyed the heck out of this movie today, and I’m going to see it again next week…this time in an Imax. I can’t wait…

Want another look at 300 from a writer who is much better at reviewing films than me? Check out the Filmsy review of 300 at our sister blog.