Title – 300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
Director – Noam Murro (Smart People)
Cast – Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey, Callan Mulvey, Hans Matheson, David Wenham, Rodrigo Santoro
Plot – Set both before, during and after the grand battle of the 300 Spartans, Rise of an Empire focuses its golden tinged gaze onto the mighty Themistocles (Stapleton) and his daring battles against the bent on blood Artemisia (Green) as her Persian army looks to burn Greece to the ground.
“Better we show them, we chose to die on our feet, rather than live on our knees”
Review by Eddie on 7/03/2014
While Zack Snyder’s 2006 blood soaked, sun drenched, slo-mo ab fest 300 is in no way a narrative masterpiece there is little doubt about it’s power as pure visceral entertainment value, a fact highlighted by its huge box office booty and a legion of fans that to this day remember the splattering of Persian and Spartan blood as fondly as when it first hit their senses like a swaying of a sharpened sword. With the subsequent release of this prequel/sequel, many of these rabid fans were hoping for more of the same and while 300: Rise of an Empire does indeed provide much of the same in the stakes of blood, slo-mo abs and as much wheat grass 3-D effects as you can shake a loincloth at, it just holds none of the abstract charm or wow factor that made it’s much grander predecessor such a joy.
The movie itself should be entitled 300: On a Boat (and yes I was hoping you’d think of Lonely Island as you read that) with much of the action forfeiting the comfort of solid ground in favour of a procession of navy battles that really start to blur into one another and become nothing more than a bunch of skirmishes that feel all to similar. The move to have the action take place on the high seas was clearly done to try and make the film seem more grand than it actually is and try to separate itself from what has come before, but in saying this the film seems to take every opportunity to pay homage or remind us of what went on in 300 and all that does is remind the audience that they probably should’ve stayed home and watched the original instead. These naval battles do however have moments of visual beauty and individual scenes that give off the sense at some stage the film was on the right track, but is consistently derailed thanks to a narrative that at no stage engages as 300 did in 2006.
In his first Hollywood leading role, Australian Sullivan Stapleton is given a sword, a cape and many grandstanding battle speeches but unfortunately he doesn’t even come close to filling Gerard Butler’s blood soaked sandals. His role as the heroic Themistocles is so bland you almost wish the film was a silent movie, with no dialogue resonating or getting that pre-battle blood flowing in a way which vastly improved our time spent with Leonidas. Other actors are all merely sword and spear fodder with Eva Green’s seriously tormented and twisted Artemisia making the biggest impression, but to say her performance is anything more than a bit of fun would be a lie. It is a shame that relatively new director Noam Murro couldn’t get more out of the human aspect; as said before he does at times display a quality hand with certain visuals and moments of battle that make the film better than it perhaps even is.
While 300 will continue to entertain and remain a very quality piece of throwaway visual entertainment, Rise of an Empire will likely sink like a wrecked ship of war in a sea of other average follow ups. Possessing some nice visuals and spraying some pretty looking blood effects does not a good film make, but we can be thankful of it reminding us that the original is a better film than many give it credit for.
2 boat horses out of 5
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys) 
Reblogged this on lookingforaneuphoria and commented:
awesome!!!!i just love 300!!!:)
oh god,i thought the movie wud be as awesome and down right mind blown from the trailer,but judging by ur review..it might NOT turn out to be what i expected it will be..:(
Don’t let me stop you from checking it out yourself though, it certainly is a visual splendour at times but as a fan of the first I did feel very underwhelmed by this one sadly.
Eddie
really..well thanx 4 the advise and honest review then.I’ll make sure to check it out myself later..:)
plainjane
Awesome Jane, let us know once you catch it be interesting to see if you agreed with me or want to tell me how much fun you had with it 🙂
Eddie
Sure..will do that definitely.haha,have a nice day ahead btw!! 🙂
Cheers!
plainjane
Well damn. I am still looking forward to this somewhat, I enjoyed the loud, over-the-topness of 300. Maybe though this won’t even match that element, either, I guess I’ll have to wait and see til tmrw!
Good review Eddie
Let us know what you thought man, hopefully your seeing it on the biggest loudest screen possible!
I think this one would actually be pretty sweet in IMAX as it’s visuals are it’s saving grace somewhat.
Eddie
I thought it was on-par with the original, both are fun, entertaining blood-soaked films!
Glad you dug it Mr. Movie, I really thought it didn’t stand alongside the original but perhaps I was wanting a bit much!
Eddie
I was skeptical of Rise of an Empire from the getgo. 300 was loads of great intellectually bankrupt fun, but it was defined by Gerard Butler’s hammy Scottish accented Leonidas. Leonidas is one of the most badass characters in recent memory, and like Maximus before him the fact that he died just makes him even more badass.
Poor old Sullivan was no match for the “man” that was Butler and therefore Leonidas 😦 If he was more up to par the film would of worked a heck of a lot better!
Eddie
I’ve been meaning to watch this movie. I’ve seen “300” but haven’t seen this one yet. I loved “300”.
You’ll have to check it out Room609, hopefully some of that love you have for the original can be found here.
Eddie
This is what I was afraid of. As you said, 300 was decent, but nothing amazing. I was hoping that this would follow suit and at least provide some decent entertainment. Might just do as you suggested and stay home to watch the original instead. Great review, thanks for the warning!
I really dug 300 Jenna as pure bloody entertainment but yeh sadly this one never felt truly entertaining. It never helps with a dull lead and story though.
Eddie
Good review Eddie. It’s incredibly dumb, but still pretty fun. Still though, it doesn’t really do much to differentiate itself from the awesome original. Maybe that’s the point, but it doesn’t quite work well for the final-product.
I would of loved it to have the same fun charm as the original but it only appears in a few select scenes that overall it actually seems quite boring!
Eddie
A film like this needs a performance like Butler’s in the first one. I watched the original last night and it’s great fun. This sequel seems a bit pointless
Great review Eddie
Mikey man spot in, Butler and the others made the original so much more than it should have been and this one just floats along meaninglessly.
Eddie
You have to wonder if this really needed a sequel! Especially so many years since the first one, which was never more than decent in the first place!
Oh man I think the answer us a big no sadly, this one really should if been a lot more fun than it was.
Eddie
I’m not surprised by this review. I pretty much knew that this wouldn’t live up to it’s predecessor. Great Review :]
It did gave a tough gig Drak, I thought perhaps with Snyder on board as producer it would if been a little more solid.
Eddie
I think it’s just hard to replace the epicness of the first movie. 300 men against the entire Persian Army is a lot intense then naval battles and Leonidas was just a badass in the first movie.
Oh man for sure! It was such an awesome journey that story and the characters just elevated it to another level.
Eddie
I agree and honestly a sequel rarely surpasses the first movie.
I wish I would have listened to your review and saved $14.50! I would give it a 2/5 as well and feel the same in everything, however I enjoyed the main lead even though he couldn’t reach Butlers intensity! The film was seriously lacking some Spartans as well >.< nice review!
Haha man that money could of gone to so many other things, sometimes you have to test the waters though you never knew if you’d love it.
Eddie
That was poetic, Well said!
I’ll probably watch it because it’s about Greek history, but I’m sure I’ll find it silly and weird! However, there’s got to be a sequel to the “For tonight, we dine in hell” catch phrase, haha!
I think that would of been a much better sequel 🙂
Eddie
Totally agree with you and I enjoyed the suggested 300: On a Boat title. I would sign the petition to have the title changed if you create one.
That would be a great little petition I reckon 🙂 I would go watch it again if they changed the title.
Eddie
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