300 (2006)

Gerard Butler does not have an indoor voice, and 300 never asks him to find one. Every line gets yelled, the camera slows down every time a spear moves, and the sky stays the color of weak tea. Half of it looks incredible. The other half looks like a screensaver. The bigger problem is the Persians, drawn as monsters instead of people, which makes the whole thing play less like history and more like a creature feature with shields. Lena Headey is the best part and gets the least to do, stuck in a subplot about politics back home that the movie clearly finds boring. Critics landed at a 52 on Metacritic, audiences handed it an A minus CinemaScore, and both make sense. It pulled $456.1 million worldwide on a reported $65M. A 5.6 because the style carries it right up until the style is all that’s left. $29 says you do a slow-motion walk into a room this week and nobody notices.

What works: The look is bold and sometimes stunning, and Lena Headey brings real weight to every scene she’s given.

What doesn’t: Endless slow motion flattens the action, and the Persians are drawn as monsters instead of people, which cheapens the whole fight.

Who it’s for: Anyone who shows up for the look and the yelling, not the history lesson.