Review of 300: Rise of an Empire (2014) by Colginator — 25 Aug 2015

After "300" turned out to be a surprising success, earning over $450 million at the box office on a budget of only $65 million, it did make sense to make a sequel. And with the Persian armies still roaming by the end of the film there was still potential to continue the story. But as much as "300: Rise of an Empire" tries, it's unable to recapture the same style Zack Snyder used in the first film.

Taking place partly before, partly during, and partly after the battle of "300", we follow the story Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) as he tries to hold off from the legions of Persian troops attacking from the seas through using his fleet of 50 warships to hold them back. The Persians are being led by Artemisia (Eva Green), the naval war lord who continues to hammer at him brutally and relentlessly.

It's enough plot to justify the violence but at the same time it doesn't have the same spirit that made "300" so enjoyable. There the focus was on Leonidas and his 300 Spartans prevailing against the odds at every turn to fight for what they believe in. But here, the story never brings any real purpose to the battle beyond defeating the bad guys. It really is just mindless violence, with no real purpose.

Whilst Sullivan Stapleton does look the role with the right muscular form to seem like the warrior he needs to be, he's still not able to live up to Gerard Butler's performance as Leonidas in the first film. Whilst he's decent at being the generic tough warrior performance, he can't quite live up to Butler's energetic, over the top delivery that made the line 'This is Sparta!' such an internet sensation. He doesn't even have any personality beyond being a generic action hero.

However, this film does introduce a greater villain than its predecessor. Possibly to combat some of the misogynistic elements of the original graphic novel and first film, we get an introduction to Eva Green as the Femme Fatale of the film. Whilst she's not up there with the best femme fatales like Barbara Stanwyck in "Double Indemnity", she's still the most interesting character of the film, receiving a dark back-story where she was born Greek, but defected to the Persian armies after her family is murdered. Not only is she a deadly warrior, but also is incredibly smart and knows how to use her sexuality as a weapon.

When it comes down to it the most important part of the film are its action sequences. And unfortunately this is really where the film falls short. Whilst it does try to copy the graphic novel look that Snyder went for the first film, it's far less successful here. The cool dark visuals used in the first film are replaced here with some weak murky visuals that end up looking less like a graphic novel and more like a video game.

It's director Murro also lacks the same directorial vision that made the battle's in Snyder's 300 so memorable. Many of his shots stick in mind due to their detail and execution with shot's like pushing the Persians off the cliff really sticking in memory. But even after just watching Rise of an Empire, it's tough to remember a single shot because it's all the action just blends together. Because of lacking any real memorability, anyone would be better off re-watching the first 300 than watching this disappointment of a sequel.