Review of 300: Rise of an Empire (2014) by Victor T — 02 Sep 2014

Apparently, 2014 was finally the year when the graphic novels "shoot for shoot" adaptations received their "anticipated" sequels, Sin City and 300. But "300" case was more complicated and doubtful than Sin City´s, "Rise of an Empire" was based on a then unpublished graphic novel, it had a relatively unknown lead actor and Snyder was replaced with an unknown director. Were the seven years of waiting worth it?

"300: Rise of an Empire" takes place before/in parallel/after the battle between Leonidas´s soldiers and Xerxes massive army, Athenian general Themistocles continues the battle in the Aegean Sea, but this time is against Persian commander Artemisia.

Making a sequel to a visually innovating film is doubtful decision because the visual aspect will not be as amazing and original as the first installment and "300: Rise of an Empire" proves this theory, but still has some joy in it. The improvements towards its predecessor are a handful but are still notable: The characters are more developed, the relationship between Themistocles and Artemisia is adequately done, the battle scenes are bigger and more fun to watch, Eva Green gives performance so good that she almost managed to save this mediocre summer blockbuster, the entertaining value is still here and I preferred the toned down visual style over the distracting yellow of the last film. With those highlights out of the way, this film has more problems than the last one. While I like the "darker tone" of the visual style, it's a failed recycling of what Snyder did in the first installment, the lead actor, Sullivan Stapleton, is nowhere as good as Gerard Butler; an excessive cartoonish gore, a plot as forgettable as last time, pathetic dialog and the heroes are so underdeveloped you will be rooting for the much more interesting and charismatic villain.

"Rise of an Empire" is a mediocre summer blockbuster that has some good elements but suffers from the absence of Snyder visually intriguing style and Butler acting abilities.