300

I saw this film this afternoon and I have to agree with some of the comments on here, but I have a slightly different take and I realize that some on here will not really agree with what I have to say. I don't necessarily agree that this is Zack Snyder's attempt to state his viewpoint on the Iraq War, but I couldn't help but feel that this film does address the issue of occupation in the middle east. I really have not been a fan of Snyder's since I saw his take on Dawn of the Dead, but I feel with 300 that he has grown up as a director.
300 has its flaws which obviously show up through the course of the film. The biggest flaw has to do with the overall tone of the film. The film starts off strong with an explanation of how the best of the Spartan men are picked out among the newborns, but as the film plays out we are not given more about how these men go about after they are "chosen", but we are thrusted into the main plot. One quarter of the way through, my friend turned to me and made the gesture that he wanted to blow his brains out.
We are force fed what the overall message that Snyder was trying to get across and that is that no one will occupy us and we will stand up for our freedom. The connection to the situation in Iraq is evident with why the Spartans set out to take on the whole Persian army. The Spartans make war with the emissary of the Persian army then Leonidas goes up to the elders to get their permission to take on this war which he is denied. Leonidas is confronted before he and his men embark on their mission, but he tells the council that he is not going off to war, but to "stretch their legs."
There are some underlying messages that water down this film. Even from the start, the message that if a child is born and has some sort of flaw then the child is either banished or destroyed. This is evident by the hunchback that shows up halfway through the film and gives a monologue about how his mother and father were banished for even having him. Discrimination is evident in Sparta in this film as all of the 300 are nothing but physical specimens. Leonidas even goes so far as banashing the hunchback because he doesn't fit his ideal of the warrior. The hunchback's heart and will is there but his physical is not.
Snyder uses action to drive home the point that war is not pretty with CGI images of blood flying in all the battle scenes. The battle scenes are choreographed beautifully suggesting that even in battle that the Spartans fight war with a beautiful flair. Snyder even manages to acknowledge how war will harden man that is evident with the the death of Leonidas's Captain's son. After the son's death, Captain changes to a more bloodthirsty fighter. The change is handle with a gregariousness that seems to change the overall tone of the war with the Persians.
Clearly, the overall tone of 300 deals with the horrors of war and how that effects a country engaged in war. Not just the men fighting it, but the people that are back home. We are given a scene toward the end when Leonidas's Queen is addressing the council on sending more troops to help Leonidas's army. She engages in a heated argument with Dillios when she does him in and the council finds out that he has been taking money from the Persians for his undermining Leonidas. It is clear that Snyder is going for the viewpoint that war is profitable.
The final act of 300 has the final battle between Sparta and Persia. The final shot of Leonidas on the ground with all of his men in a symmetrical pose on the ground harbors images of the great painters of the past, but Leonidas is sprawled out in a crucified position suggesting that he was more of a god and now a possible religious figure to rally around. The final scene shows the lone soldier sent back by Leonidas inspiring his army which is clearly bigger than what Leonidas had suggesting that you do need numbers to overcome a great obstacle.