300

My, my. 300, adapted from a graphic novel by Frank Miller that was itself based on a 480 B.C. battle, is already looking to be one of the most polarizing films of the year. That's why, in my hopes of being a uniter, I've called such attention to its brown-ness — a quality I think everybody can agree on. With its massive CGI vistas and such, the picture certainly qualifies as a technical marvel even if you're not taken with its hues.

People are weighing in on the political significance of this lionization of all things manly, which shows the good and noble and bearded Leonidas (Butler) leading his outnumbered 300 Spartans against the encroachment of a Persian army led by buff-but-kinda-sissified Xerxes (Santoro). Denials that this is some kind of policy paper in celluloid disguise are flying fast and furious. READ THE REST OF THIS REVIEW.

• The Host, The Namesake, and more reviews