300 is not your average hack and slash affair. Despite the drab hues it is visually stunning, thanks mostly to some of the best CGI artwork put onto celluloid.

There isn't much of a story to get excited about (Sparta threatened by imminent large scale Persian invasion; Sparta fights back), but it is loosely based on the historic scuicide mission "The Battle of Thermopylae". The protagonists, who are as buff as they are tall, each resemble a Schwarzenegger/Rambo hybrid of some sort.

Every battle scene has been shot at anything but normal speed. Combinations of slow motion and acceleration are the standard and it works beautifully.

The action doesn't disappoint with enough stylised decapitations and amputations to satisfy the male audience. For the women, watching the sweat drip off 300 buff male bodies who are wearing nothing but jock straps and capes should be more than enough to arouse maintain attention.

On the subject of the last paragraph, 300 does come across as very homoerotic and depending on how you look at it, could easily pass as the gayest film ever made.

Don't let that get in your way though. It is truly entertaining on many levels and has replay value. Even if you know how the "Battle of Thermopylae" ends, the on-screen journey is worthwhile.