that was some of the most gratuitous use of slow-motion I've ever seen

the fighting got repetitive because of that...I thought it would've been better if they had stayed in the phalanx rather than watching them wandering around, Samurai Showdown-style while the Persians attacked in waves of 12

racial undertones can be spotted like you said; I think this pops up more often than not in Frank Miller's work

another problem I have with the comic translations (happened in Sin City as well) is that too much of Miller's text being used as voice-over

part of the beauty of film is that you don't have to fill in all those pauses and gaps like you would a comic

so a long narrative over every other scene where we can clearly understand what's going on anyway get tedious