Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) vents his rage at the losses sustained by his army while facing 300 Spartans.

Movie Reviews

'300' and 'Inland Empire'

By: David Coley

Posted: 3/12/07

In Theaters

'300'

At the beginning of "300," we hear the background story of King Leonidas of Sparta narrated by one of his men. We hear of his upbringing in the traditional Spartan way: he learns to fight from the time he can walk and is entrenched in violence throughout childhood to train him to be a fierce warrior. This has the added effect of introducing the audience to the culture of violence at work in the film.

Throughout the movie, combat is glorified. Because of the historical background of ancient Greece, this is not out of place. The battles are brutal. Decapitations and spurts of blood abound, magnified in great detail by the grainy, colorful cinematography.

But while the action fits the ancient feeling of the film, the approach is decidedly new, in ways that both strengthen and weaken the film.

It's directed by Zack Snyder, whose only major previous credit is the remake of George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead." Perhaps just as important to the film's concept is the source material: a graphic novel by Frank Miller, whose work was also the basis of 2005's "Sin City." From what little I've seen of the novel, it seems Snyder stayed as true as he could to the source.

Visually, this is a good thing. It's not an ancient Greece we've seen before. Much of the frame takes on a dusty golden-brown hue, where striking colors like the red of the capes and blood and the blackness of the hair stand out. Objects are arranged in the frame in a decidedly bold way, giving the film a dynamic and mythic tone.

The element that ultimately weakens this visual concept is the movement of those objects. Snyder employs a very "Matrix"-influenced approach to his camerawork. Many of the action scenes feature numerous slow-motion shots. At times it got so repetitive I felt I was watching a skipping DVD.

What originality the imagery has on first glance becomes pedantic soon after.

The story is based on history and is fairly compelling. Sparta is being overrun by the massive armies of the Persian King Xerxes. Leonidas (Gerard Butler), being the warrior that he is, is predisposed to fight back rather than submit. But because the city council has not approved open war, he can only take a small number of soldiers - you guessed it, 300 - to fight back the invaders in a narrow canyon.

The weaker subplot that often distracts from the narrative is the plight of Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey), who must somehow convince the council to declare war, and has to ward off the ambitious councilman Theron (Dominic West).

Also distracting is the constant narration of the aforementioned soldier (David Wenham), whose words serve little other purpose than to describe to us what we are already seeing.

Overall, "300" will be known for its bold visual approach, but that cannot mask some of the amateurish directorial choices and weaker elements of the script.

In Theaters

'Inland Empire'

"Inland Empire" isn't your typical film. Made by the equally atypical David Lynch, it's difficult to review because Lynch seems to transcend the expectations of movies with each of his projects. So while I will do my best to describe and unearth the various levels of the film, keep in mind it can't be judged by conventional standards.

Lynch has long been famous for his unsettling psychological stories that frequently flit in and out of consciousness. His work ranges from the odd "Mullholland Dr." to the oddly conventional "The Straight Story."

"Mullholland Dr." was acclaimed for its labyrinthine tale that played with the worlds of dreams and their emotional effects. Some of Lynch's other work has been in this vein, if not as obviously. Yet, if "Mullholland" depicted a dream, "Inland Empire" depicts a psychotic episode.

The story revolves around Nikki Grace (Laura Dern), who gets cast in a film directed by Kingsley Stewart (Jeremy Irons). The film, as they discover, is actually a remake of a Polish film that was never finished because the lead actors were murdered under mysterious circumstances. As they work on the production, Nikki starts to have feelings for her costar Devon (Justin Theroux), reflecting their romantic link in the story of the movie they are acting in.

That story occupies the first third of the film.

Then, things start to get hazy as the lines between reality, the original Polish film, and the remake are blurred.

For more than an hour it is difficult to tell which story a scene is from, and sometimes, things happen that don't belong in any of the stories. Characters take on traits of their film counterparts, then interact with characters from the Polish film, and so on.

Time means nothing - people die and then you see them again later.

In a way, Lynch is defying the normal film logic that one shot must somehow relate to the next shot. Much of the film is a series of random scenes, all linked by an overhanging peril facing Dern's character, the name of which you are not even sure of by the end.

In short order, you are taken from a backyard barbecue to Hollywood Blvd. and then on to a television sitcom featuring the actors in full-size rabbit suits.

This is definitely bold filmmaking. But as a whole, it gets to be a little much. At almost three hours, the film feels like a test of endurance. Because there is little semblance of a story arc, there is not much to compel viewers to keep watching.

While such experimental portions of his other films led to a deeper sense of mystery and discovery, here it's almost too much to handle.

The last portions of the film at first seem to hold the promise of some kind of resolution. But don't be fooled: Lynch hardly ever makes it that easy. All of the growing tension and unsettling tone lead to a violent and illusory end.

Followed by what has to be the strangest ending credits sequence in film history, "Inland Empire" stakes its claim as one of the most confusing yet unique films in Lynch's varied career.

dcoley@unews.com