Doing Battle on the Field of Parody
So much has been written about the homoeroticism in the film “300” that any spoof is bound to feel like overkill. Fortunately, overkill is what Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer do best: as the uncontested titans of the parody genre (with fingers in everything from the “Scary Movie” franchise to the more recent “Epic Movie”) they continue to prove that ridiculing other movies is much easier than making your own.
In “Meet the Spartans,” King Leonidas (Sean Maguire, whose accent veers from London to Glasgow and back again) and 13 faithful boyfriends — er, soldiers — face off against the Persians and an avalanche of pop-culture detritus. While a slutty Queen Margo (Carmen Electra, of course) tries to distract the men from one another, celebrity not-so-lookalikes and unfunny reality-show takeoffs vie for our attention and gag reflex.
As redundant and tasteless as Queen Margo’s crab-infested chastity belt, “Meet the Spartans” is best described by the reactions of a row of what appeared to be sixth graders who shared the screening with me. As various Spartans slipped one another the tongue (Eewwww!), a nipple clamp was ripped off with the nipple still attached (Aaarghh!) and the Spartans skipped into battle singing “I Will Survive” (Huh?), I realized the kids had said it all.
“Meet the Spartans” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It has flying dentures, a flatulent penguin and human testicles smeared with dog food.
MEET THE SPARTANS
Opened on Friday nationwide.
Written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer; director of photography, Shawn Maurer; edited by Peck Prior; music by Christopher Lennertz; production designer, William Elliott; produced by Mr. Friedberg, Mr. Seltzer and Peter Safran; released by Regency Enterprises and 20th Century Fox. Running time: 1 hour 32 minutes.
WITH: Sean Maguire (Leonidas), Carmen Electra (Queen Margo), Ken Davitian (Xerxes) and Kevin Sorbo (Captain).
Source: http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/movies/26spar.html
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