Inspired by the work of graphic novelist Frank Miller (Sin City), 300 combines live action with virtual backgrounds, bringing you an almost computer generated live action feature film which tells the heroic tale of the ancient Greek battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas and 300 brave battlers from Sparta took on the might of the Persian Army led by its megalomaniac ruler Xerxes.

Unfortunately, what is a triumph for the technical bods who created this supposedly bloodthirsty spectacle does not make a decent feature film. What we are presented with, is a ridiculously stupid Spartan leader who simply marches his followers to certain death, allbeit slowly, because the Spartans are of course the bravest fighters of all. They'd be a force if there was 3,000 of them. Instead we see that ok yes, they're full of gusto, but they ain't half stupid. They face overwhelming odds and still go into battle. If they were lemmings, they'd no doubt jump off a cliff.

So we get battle after battle for the ever-diminishing Spartans, with them piling up those they kill in ever-more artistic sculptures, whilst back home there's much debate amongst the elders as to the merits of the war (that seem familiar?) and you get the Spartan hero's wife wrestling with an eminent baddie who just wants to get into her knickers.

Back at the front, we get to see a weirdly camp Persian leader Xerxes, who only wants the Spartan bloke to kneel and swear his allegiance to Persia. It's not much to ask. But of course to the fiery Scot of a Spartan leader this request is the pits of the earth and he'll take his men all the way to hell rather than bend over to the petulant Xerxes.

It's all a bit unremitting, repetitive and monotonous, you feel little for foolhardy muscular men in leather pants and about the only truly exciting moment is when some large elephants appear in battle. But instead of trampling the Spartans into the ground and giving us a chance to reach the final credits early, sadly, they make a precipitous exit.

Wait till it reaches video if you're curious.