Thermopylooza

300

Directed by Zack Snyder

Into the San Fernando Valley of Death rode 300, the strange new movie that may prove to be one of the most influential films ever made in Hollywood. When a picture earns between two and three times more money in its opening weekend than anyone predicted, collecting a $70 million take that indicates its final tally both here and abroad will reach half a billion dollars (on a $60 million investment), that picture is going to change the way things are done.

What happened with 300 at the box office wasn't supposed to happen, largely because 300 breaks every rule Hollywood has come to believe about how to make a successful action picture--perhaps the studio executives' most beloved film genre because it travels so well outside the United States. 300 has no stars, was helmed by a no-name director, was inspired by a mildly successful graphic novel, and tells the story of a three-day clash in a Greek ravine between Persians and Spartans that took place 2,500 years ago.

Here's one key rule that has been overtaken by events: Unless an action picture has a pre-sold title, it must have a big star. Peter Jackson was able to make his Lord of the Rings trilogy with a bunch of nobodies because the books on which it was based are world-famous. James Cameron made Titanic with two performers who were no more than starlets at the time because the movie's title told you all you needed to know about it.

But all things being equal, studios either want stars headlining their action movies or want to invent stars in the process of making those movies. They want Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible III (until they decide to fire him for jumping on a couch), even though Cruise will cost them in excess of $75 million when all is said and done. They want Nicolas Cage to play Ghost Rider, even though Cage hasn't had a hit in years and now sports a hairpiece that rivals William Shatner's when it comes to the willing suspension of disbelief. They will also kick a promotional machine into gear to create an action star, though they're getting much worse at it than in the past. (Ever heard of Jason Statham? He's an English guy who toplines The Transporter movies. Oh, haven't heard of him? How about John Cena, a former pro wrestler and star of The Marine? That's the sound of crickets you hear in the background.)

The leading actor in 300 is a Scot named Gerard Butler, last seen as a Phantom of the Opera who was so, shall we say, Fernando Lamas that there seemed to be no reason other than perversity for him to be living in the Paris sewers singing "Music of the Night." Nobody going to see 300 has the slightest idea who Gerard Butler is, and even after the picture is over, chances are that 90 percent of moviegoers won't be able to tell you the name of the guy who plays Leonidas, King of Sparta. Millions will see it twice, and they still won't care.

That's because they may question whether Butler even exists. To a remarkable extent, 300 is a cartoon. Yes, there are actors in it: Baker and his fellow performers were filmed jumping around on soundstages in loincloths and helmets. But every other thing you see has been generated by a computer--and that may include the exposed pectoral muscles of Butler and his Spartan confreres. I'm not sure any human being has ever been quite as ripped as any one of these guys, let alone all 300 of them.

Computer-enhanced washboard abs? Why not? For Blood Diamond, the big-budget melodrama released at the end of last year, the director had his special-effects man add a tear to the cheek of leading actress Jennifer Connelly. You might expect Connelly, an Academy Award-winning actress, to be able to turn on the waterworks by herself, but evidently she didn't or couldn't, and yet the tear is there for all eternity.

Since the performers fade into the background in 300, there are only two ways to explain the movie's undeniable impact on its audience. One is its arresting visual style, which is key to the successful marketing campaign. It does look like an entirely new kind of movie. But that can get old pretty quickly, and it seems clear that the 300 audience is remaining rapt throughout the movie's two-hour running time.