300 seems to have been described by many as nigh pornographic.

Why? Because it's just money shot after money shot. There is scant plot - but then, there doesn't need to be. 300 Spartan warriors fending a mountain pass against an army of hundreds of thousands of Persians - in what is possibly the best known last stand of history - doesn't exactly need a great deal of plot or characterisation for that matter.

Few films - and one gets the impression that this is probably the level of visual impact that Quentin Tarantino will strive for his entire life and never get within a mile of - can claim to so regularly deliver such a punch. Not just with the battle but in most aspects of the film. Clearly, Frank Millar's influence here was by no means titular and given the propensity of Hollywood to screw over writers - in the sense of either doing a horrible job of adapting their work or actually weasling their way out of handing over money - who have their worked adapted for the silver screen, you can't blame the man for making sure he didn't get shafted.

And - aside from getting some Iranians to whinge about how Frank Miller was making a propaganda piece - it seems that the proles are happy... and rightly so, there is wrong with this film. It does not pretend to be anything more than it is - a rollicking action film that hits the ground running and doesn't stop until the end credits roll. Naturally, some will criticise the historical accuracy or try and attribute some kind of messages about freedom and the fighting of tyranny etc. but the film doesn't really attempt to elaborate on any of these... it's just some Greeks (with Scottish accents) slaughtering Xerxes' hordes in an apologetically bloody, stylish and awesome way... if only more films could be like this.