Seven years after "300", we were given an interesting followup. It's a unique type of movie in that it acts as a prequel, a mid-quel(?), and a sequel to the original. Some of the events take place years before, then immediately preceding the actions of "300", then following the same timeline, then showing the results of what took place.

Greek general Themistocles kills the Persian king Darius I during battle. The son of Darius is Xerxes, and he is groomed by the female naval commander Artemisia to become a God-King. Xerxes plans to attack Greece, as seen in "300". Themistocles travels to Sparta to form an alliance, but fails because of the tensions between Sparta and Athens. Leonidas takes his 300 soldiers to fight Xerxes on land, while Themistocles takes his soldiers to fight at sea. We see the outcome from the first movie while the naval battles takes place simultaneously. After the Spartan defeat, the rest of the armies of Greece unite to join the Athenians to fight the rest of the Persians. It sounds a bit complex, but it's much easier to watch than to read.

The original had a distinct visual style, and it is replicated for this as well. Intense battles, super-slo-mo shots snap back to regular speed, cameras whip around the action, blood spurts everywhere. The colors are very saturated, bringing the comic book style to life. I enjoyed the visuals of the original, so I was pleased with the pre/mid/sequel. I do, however, think that at times it just felt like a re-tread, doing the same thing over but with different characters in a different setting.

I absolutely love the fact that these events are based (albeit loosely) on actual history. It's true that a Persian king Xerxes attacked Greece, it's true that Spartan king Leonidas had only 300 troops, the Battle of Thermopylae was a real event. Themistocles was a real person, Artemisia was really a respected naval commander. The original comic of "300" was essentially a true story with embellishments due to the fact that the Greeks were telling the story. Of course exaggerations are to be expected after generations and centuries of re-tellings.

Sullivan Stapleton's performance as Themistocles was not bad, but not great. Gerard Butler had such an intensity as King Leonidas, and it's somewhat unfair to just compare Stapleton to that, but he just can't match up. On the flip, I loved Eva Green. She has a sort of unique look, not the kind of woman that everyone would agree is hot, but still exudes a major sex appeal. She also brought focus and fierceness to her character, and really stole the show.

The original "300" stood out for it's look and style, and "300: Rise of an Empire" didn't really break any new ground. The story was good, the acting was mostly good, the action and visuals were really good, but it still felt like the kid brother of the original.

 

 

On the [Celluloid Hero] scale, "300: Rise of an Empire" gets a 6 out of 10.

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