300 finally runs me down!

The movie 300 finally tracked me down in my own lair, in the form of a free showing sponsored by NU's Classics Club.

I have to say that it had a certain quality, a watchable quality, while it was on. Twenty-four hours later I'm not very pleased with what came across as the Battle of the Pelennor Fields with more body piercings.

The very big plus side was the way 300 put a graphic novel on a screen (not so big a screen in my case). It looked like there were no more than 4 colors used. Everything was visually simple and dramatic. I am sure the makers were aiming for this look and they have reason to be pleased with themselves.

On the other hand, I think I must be getting tired of stories that feature blood and muscle taking on sub-human enemies who do evil for incomprehensible reasons. Maybe it's because I recently saw Black Hawk Down for the first time? That was a good movie, too, but the wave upon wave of AK-47-wielding Somalis were no more convincing than Xerxes' boys (?).

On the third hand...I have to admit that though there was little connection between the movie and Herodotus' account of the Persian wars (except for the use of the words Sparta, Persia and Greece), 300 was closer to the spirit of H's History than one might guess.