There are very few movies that I really rave about, but the latest Frank Miller adaptation, “300” is going to be one of them. It is about the Spartan myth about Leonidas and the 300 that faced down the hoards of Xerxes. It is about honor and friendship in the face of death, and about the love of a father for a son that cannot be expressed. It is about the love of a King for his land and people. It is about the most amazing display of blood and gut I have seen since Kill Bill, but even better done.

In the style of the last Frank Miller graphic novel adaptation, Sin City, “300” tempts you to let go of what you expect of normal movie styling and accept the noire anime that the graphic novel illustrated. Usually the illustration acts as a storyboard only for movie should pacing, but in this case the graphic novel is the template for how the movie should be filmed and rendered. And in this the film was completely successful where “Sin City” attempted to do similar but was not quite there.

A huge tip of the hat to whoever did the historical research on how the Spartans engaged in battle, because for the first time I felt like I was being shown what a real ancient battle must have been like. It was not the tin soldiers in rows upon rows waiting to pound each other into silliness, there were real battle tactics and understanding into the phalanx formations. Of course it was blown a bit out of proportion, it is myth after all, but it was close enough to be believable.

Detailed description of this movie is difficult because it is so different. You could call it live action animation, or even highly stylized noire done in high contrast and re-colorized, but whatever you call it you experience two hours of eye candy. And this was very good eye candy.

Go see it, but do not take the children, this is not a cartoon you would want them to see. And of course here is my highest recommendation … this will be in my DVD collection when it comes out.