300: Rise of an Empire – Movie Review

“300: Rise of an Empire” is not a traditional sequel, considering that most of the events that unfold take place around the same time as the events in the first film, just in a different location.  When 2007’s “300” ended, King Leonidas and his 300 Spartan warriors were defeated by the Persian King Xerxes and his army.  Taking over directing duties from Zach Snyder is Noam Murro (Who’s only other feature credit is the 2008 dramady “Smart People”) and the filmmaker’s lack of experience working on a film of this nature is very evident.  The original 300 was no masterpiece but it was wildly entertaining and Gerard Butler was perfect in the lead role (the only time I can think Butler was perfect for any role).  The new lead, Sullivan Stapleton’s Themistokles is no King Leonidas and unfortunately most of the film revolves around a character with almost zero charisma.

“300” Rise of an Empire” looks fantastic and its one of those “perfectly suited for 3D kind of flicks”, but with all the action, gore, and CGI eye candy, the movie winds up still feeling stale and boring.  Even Eva Green’s sexy villainous Artemisia can’t save this crap.  Green is probably the best thing here, and the scene where Artemisia and Themistokles come face to face for the first time starts our promising but winds up turning into one of the film’s most idiotic moments.

Many of the battle sequences are fantastic, especially the ones that take place on the stormy seas, but between those great battles, sitting through “300: Rise of an Empire” is more like a battle all on its own, and the viewer is the one who is being defeated.

By: Marc Ferman