Zack Snyder

Primally, 300 has a grunting, gut impact...Primarily, it's constructed of fudged history and creative slaughtering, making it a somewhat disturbing American busman's holiday.

Any film that depicts a 'superheroic' rapist-brute as a self-styled parody of America's 'true face' can hardly be accused of thematic squeamishness, and any film that sends readers back to the comic for Moore (and Gibbons) has served the public interest.

Any film that depicts a 'superheroic' rapist-brute as a self-styled parody of America's 'true face' can hardly be accused of thematic squeamishness, and any film that sends readers back to the comic for Moore (and Gibbons) has served the public interest.

On balance, this new cinematic take on a 75-year-old icon constitutes a worthy Superman movie and a modest improvement for a franchise that had creatively stalled.

[SPOILER-FREE REVIEW:] This is not a drill, comic-book geeks.

These comic-book cinematic universes...train audiences to see the forest for the trees...Enjoy the trees. For the forest is a tad gnarly.