I saw a sneak preview of "300" this evening. I loved it! I have never seen gore, blood, and violence so beautifully done. I'm not into the whole CG thing, but this film was quite an aesthetic experience.
In comparison with the graphic novel, and the movie does take quite a few liberties with character development, especially with the queen. But it's not the characters that glared so much differently as much as the context. When I read the graphic novel, the whole reason for the war was to protect Sparta from an invasion. While watching the film, I couldn't help but notice that the theme of fighting for liberty was so prominent; it was like war propaganda for Bush. The original comic was published in 1998--well before 9/11 and the Coalition. But to see the story in this time's context, it has a whole different meaning.
But that's the English teacher in me critiquing and analyzing things. The comic geek in me is just so pleased that 98% of the film did not stray from the original comic, and of course, beautiful gore.