I agree with how out of place those creatures seemed. What I found funny after reading the comic series is that it takes itself very seriously in comparison to the film. The only of the creatures you find in the graphic novel are the elephants and it is just one panel of them falling off the cliff. No Rhino, no orc guy in chains, no bomb throwers, no knife hands, no goat guy. And Xerxes is just a head taller than Leonidas, he is a big guy but you in no way get the impression he is a giant. Once this comes out on DVD I am considering making a edit that matches the book.