300: Rise of an Empire Movie Review

In 2007 director Zack Snyder brought Frank Miller’s popular comic to the big screen, gaining a cult following in the process with its slow-motion cinematography and epic fight scenes. Now Noam Murro has picked up the series for the long awaited sequel, ‘’Rise of an Empire’’ which stays true to the original whilst not quite topping it.

Based on the Frank Miller comic Xerxes, ‘’Rise of an Empire’’ utilises a non-linear narrative to take place before, during and after the original film. Where Leonidas and the brave 300 hold back Xerxes’s land forces, newcomer General Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) leads his legion of free Greeks to battle Xerxes’s gargantuan naval fleet led by the vengeful Artemisia (Eva Green). The story unfolds from the perspective of these two main characters as battle ensues and several events cross paths with those from the original film; it’s a tricky thing to do for a film of this style but ‘’Rise of an Empire’’ pulls it off. From simple character interactions to full-scale plans being set into motion the film follows up the first very well. With that said, newcomers to the series may feel a little lost; even with a flashback here and there, elements and characters of the narrative that played a large part in the original seem to be brushed over here; the powerful and heavily fortified Spartan army that made the original so beloved have a much smaller role here as Rise of an Empire focuses more on the Greeks collectively coming together to stop the Persians by any means necessary. Aside from these gripes 300: Rise of an Empire delivers just what you’d look for in a historical fantasy film; gripping action, epic speeches and lustful romance set against the backdrop of real world events.

The likes of Gerard Butler and Michael Fassbender in the original did a fantastic job of conveying the over-the-top mood of the comics and the sequel does manage to continue that trend to a certain degree. Sullivan Stapleton is nowhere near as memorable as his predecessor but he is nonetheless a decent lead in the way he cares deeply for his people and will not stop until the forces of Xerxes are stopped. And then there’s Eva Green as Artemisia; by far the best character in the film, she lights up the screen with a ruthless yet sensual presence that makes God-King Xerxes seem weak by comparison. She’s a great villain who always makes her presence known throughout the film. But on the other hand, most of the other characters are either under-developed or under-used; Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) and narrator Dillos (David Wenham) really don’t do anything until the final moments; a shame considering the larger roles they had in the previous film. Likewise the newer characters are more filler than a reasonable part of the film Scyllias (Callen Mulvey) and his son Callisto (Jack O’Connel) come the closest to being developed properly but only seem to fill in for the previous duo of Artemis and Astinos rather than bringing anything refreshing to the table. Unfortunately these problems make it much more difficult to root for the heroes this time around, a step back from the superior original.

Rise of an Empire continues to embrace the same gritty and slow-mo induced combat but this time a greater level of tension is employed; rather than being an unbreakable defence like Leonidas’s 300, Themistocles’s naval fleet is hopelessly outnumbered and outmatched by the might of Artemisia and are instead forced to use non-conventional techniques to emerge victorious. The action benefits from some mostly solid choreography and framing, although there are several moments where the camera will shake a little too much and the shots clearly catered to 3D splatters of blood can be distracting. The gore effects are well done as well, with blood spraying much more than it did in the first film in addition to the usual decapitations and dismemberment of many soldiers. Once again, the settings and vistas look incredible, especially when Xerxes stands atop a palace and greets the Persian masses below; setting the film at sea also allows some great looking water and storm effects to transport the viewer into the world of Ancient Greece. The music is sweeping and epic, just as it was before with thunderous war cries and rumbling drums, which really put across the gritty nature of the combat. Rise of an Empire sticks to the tried and true when it comes to presentation; it will please those who loved the first film but likely won’t sway those who disliked Snyder’s original vision.

Rise of an Empire doesn’t possess the same epic scale or memorable moments as its predecessor but thanks to a stand-out performance from Eva Green and a greater level of tension in the battle scenes, the film still lives up to its pedigree.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars