300

As soon as I realized that 300 was opening in Philippine theaters a whole two days before it would open in the US and most of the rest of the world, I immediately made plans to see it so that I could get on the internet afterwards and brag. But I didn't actually get the chance to watch it until Friday night, so... whatever.

300 is quite possibly the most violent and unabashedly manly movie I have ever seen (despite the thousands of sweaty and impossibly muscular men wearing little more than their underwear). It is an overload of awesome. Once the big battle gets started, which is pretty early on, the movie runs on adrenaline all the way up to the end. Every scene is shot in an extremely pompous, stylistically grand, and manly way that makes The Matrix look tame by comparison. There are no compromises-- when a head is decapitated, if tumbles through the air in slow motion, giving a brief but clear view of the cross section of the neck. Not for the faint of heart!

The battle is intense almost to the point that it's physically exhausting, perhaps even to a fault. It leaves me with the feeling I'd get after going jogging. Drenched with sweat and breathing heavy, I feel like I can take on anything... but then again, I'm so tired...

I loved the part where the queen killed the traitor guy in front of the council. It reminded me of so many other movies where the bad guy is taunting the good guy, and they're right in front of each other, and in my mind I think "Just run over there and stab him!"... and then she actually does! It's such a satisfying scene, and it actually drew cheers from the audience.