Movie Review: Meet the Spartans (2008, Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer)

* *

Cast: Sean Maguire, Carmen Electra, Ken Davitian, Kevin Sorbo, Diedrich Bader, Method Man, Jared Dauplaise, Travis Van Winkle, Nicole Parker
Screenplay: Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
84 minutes / Color

At least it was a stupid movie and they knew it would be stupid. Get me? That’s what I enjoyed about “Meet the Spartans”. Yes, it is a bad, bad movie but when you put it together and realize that it’s a full-length spoof of recent, overrated blockbuster “300”, you’ll entertained. But as a critique, it was not near a great a movie.

Just like last year’s “300”, “Meet the Spartans” is a full length spoof; it brings us on the adventure of the might Spartans (now much less then they were in the original) with their leader Leonidas (Sean Maguire) against the evil Persian Empire.

As they fight for their land Sparta, the Spartans encounter the weirdest enemies while working there way up to beat the unbearable human-god (now completely over-weight): Xerxes (Ken Davitian).

At home, Leonidas’ wife, the porn star-sexy Queen Margo (Carmen Electra) is using all her power to persuade the cities council to send more troops to help her husband and his warriors.

At the end, Leonidas and his men are beaten by Xerxes and his super powers, not to mention his ultimate spy Paris Hilton (Nicole Parker). But in a chance to redeem Sparta and his King Leonidas, wounded Dilio (Jared Dauplaise) gathers more men and beats Xerxes’ army.

In the end “Meet the Spartans” does not compare to such teens spoofs such as the first 2 “Scary Movies”, “Mafia” (1998) and “Not Another Teen Movie” (2001), but goes beyond the terrible mess known as last years “Epic Movie” (2007).

I do however; have to give a few actors some kudos for impersonations. The biggest one would have to be leading man Sean Maguire whose Gerald Butler impersonations and stylings weren’t only a close resemblance but were kind of entertaining.

I can’t lie if I say the movie didn’t entertain me. It actually did, but I also have to be honest and say that some things were just outright stupid. Many jokes were unbearably corny and the impersonations of the real-life celebrities were idiotic. A smile on my face was very rare, but I must admit I did – once in a while.

At the end, “Meet the Spartans” was far from mediocre, but it wasn’t that bad. Definitely not as bad the disgusting “Vantage Point”, to tell the honest to God truth, it’s quite near getting 3 stars from me. Unfortunately, it really doesn’t reach.

I think spoof movies are getting old and I watch them just for the hell of it. Not for bashing believe me; if you read this review carefully you can see that I expected the stupidity from the very beginning. I just hope that one day, “spoof films” will redeem itself and releases something actually worth while. “Not Another Teen Movie” is still my favorite movie of the genre. I do hope something involving spoofing Oscar movies will come out soon; now that would be interesting…