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300: Rise of an Empire Review

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PSJamesMysterio

Well-Known Member
*This review contains spoilers for both "300: Rise of an Empire" and the original "300"*


"300: Rise of an Empire" is a both a prequel, midquel and sequel to the 2007 film "300". "300" was based on a stand-alone graphic novel of the same name. It’s inspired by the famous Battle of Thermopylae, but it wasn’t meant to be a historical book but rather a fantasized version of the events. The movie, directed by Zack Snyder, captured the look and feel of the novel perfectly and added some subplots about characters that had little development in the book. The story ended with the main character, Leonidas, dying along with 300 Spartans. Despite this, a sequel has been in the works for years. Frank Miller, the author and artist of the graphic novel, wrote an unreleased comic simply titled "Xerxes." This was then adapted into a screenplay by Zack Synder and Kurt Johnstad which was then adapted into "300: Rise of an Empire" directed by Noam Murro.


"300: Rise of an Empire" is a failed attempt to capture the magic of its predecessor. The film isn't bad, but it's inferior to the original in almost every aspect. The film's main character, Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton), isn't very interesting, and Stapleton's performance is nothing special. He just fights Persians, gives speeches that aren't as entertaining as Leonidas', and sleeps with the enemy’s most violent leader, Artemisia (Eva Green), for no reason other than to let the audience see the actress half-naked. Leonidas wasn't just a warrior that killed people; he was also an interesting character that was a joy to watch on screen. He wasn't "deep" by any means, but he wasn't boring to watch. Themistocles does about everything Leonidas did; he just didn’t do it as good.


The other warriors that accompany our main protagonist are as bland as ever. They just seem like generic warriors, and they don't bring anything interesting to the story. The father- son story between two of the warriors is extremely predicable and familiar. In fact, it’s almost like the screenwriters took the father-son story from the first film and just swapped everything. In the original, the father wants his son to fight and the son dies. In this film, the father doesn't want his son to fight and the father dies. The Athenians are suppose to be different than the Spartans, but this contrast just isn't done well because it’s do obvious.


The main villain of the film, Artemisia, is also very generic. She hates the Greeks because they raped her family, and now she’s an evil manipulative warrior whose soul purpose is to get revenge. Eva Green gives a decent performance, but sometimes she comes off as silly. She just wasn’t as good a main villain as Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) was. It’s also disappointing to know that Xerxes is just a tool and not the real leader behind the Persians.


The newer characters may be bad, but the returning ones are fine. Xerxes is still just as awesome as before and his back-story was very interesting. Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) isn’t as good as she was before, but she’s still one of the best characters on screen. Unfortunately, Dilios (David Wenham) gets little screen time and is basically just used as a cameo to connect the two films together.


The plot of this film doesn't contain glaring plot holes, but it does get confusing at times. Figuring out when events in this film happen in regard to its predecessor is a problem. The sex scene in this film is a complete waste of screen time and is only included because the original had one. In "300", when Leonidas and Queen Gorgo sleep with one-another, it's important because that's the last time they're ever going to be together. In "300: Rise of an Empire", it's comical. The story also has no clear beginning, middle and end. This wouldn't be a bad thing if the story didn't seem like it was jumping around instead of telling a unique story non-linearly.


This film needed Zack Synder. The directing isn’t bad; it’s just not the same. Sure, the fighting is close enough, and there’s plenty of blood, but the film just doesn’t fit. “300” was intentionally made to look like a comic book and had a dark tone. In this film, everything is too bright, it treats itself more of an action film rather than a drama, and the blood doesn’t even look the same. There are other inconsistencies as well. Ephialtes’ costume doesn’t look the same, and Andrew Pleavin, who plays Daxos, looks very different. One scene he is shown in a flashback all ripped up, and soon afterwards we see the chubby, 2014 version of Pleavin. Noam Murro just couldn’t replicate Synder’s style.


“300: Rise of an Empire” retains the action-packed fight sequences of its predecessor, but not the character and story depth found in the original. Viewers will enjoy this film because it is very entertaining, but it won’t have the lasting impact the first film had.


Rating: 2.5 out of 4.
 
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VITA_Lover

Well-Known Member
“300: Rise of an Empire” retains the action-packed fight sequences of its predecessor, but not the character and story depth found in the original. Viewers will enjoy this film because it is very entertaining, but it won’t have the lasting impact the first film had.

Saw it on DVD - could not agree more - glad I waited for redbox to get it.
 

Carlos

Owner
Staff member
Saw it on DVD - could not agree more - glad I waited for redbox to get it.
I, too waited for redbox. However, I wish I'd had seen this in the theaters. This movie was designed around theater 3D glasses (and it shows). The first one was about the end result of Sparta's overtaking Xerxes only to die. So, they designed the prequel because it allows for more room to put in 3D stuff. Many greek films thrive on violent wars. Fortunately, Rise of the Empire was a good interpretation of the greek gods. But not as good as... Immortals, or The Legend of Hercules.
 

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