300 – cheers and jeers

According to this, the upcoming movie 300 – directed by Zach Snyder (the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake) and based upon a graphic novel by Frank Miller (THE DARK NIGHT RETURNS) was jeered and booed by snooty cineastes at a recent festival screening in Europe – but the ticket-paying general audiences ate it up and loved it.

Personally, I thought the trailer looked interesting, up to a point. The shimmering, desaturated color and fancy camera angles were clearly meant to capture some of the feel of a graphic novel, but the emphasis on sweaty, manly men swinging swords at each other and leaping around in glorified slow-motion seemed so overdone that it bordered on camp. I’m hopeful this was just a matter of the trailer over-hyping one particular element of the film, but I am a bit concerned that it makes the movie look like all flash and no substance.

So which is it – a blockbuster or a bomb? Find out for yourself when the film is released on March 9.