300: Rise of an Empire
Directed by: Noam Murro
Written by: Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller
Starring: Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey, Hans Matheson, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham, Rodrigo Santoro, Jack O'Connell, Andrew Tiernan, Igal Naor, Andrew Pleavin, Ben Turner, Ashraf Barhom, Christopher Sciueref
Action/Drama/War - 102 min
Written by: Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller
Starring: Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey, Hans Matheson, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham, Rodrigo Santoro, Jack O'Connell, Andrew Tiernan, Igal Naor, Andrew Pleavin, Ben Turner, Ashraf Barhom, Christopher Sciueref
Action/Drama/War - 102 min
Upon 300’s theatrical release in 2006, the phrase to quote was, “You’ve never seen anything like it!” Unfortunately for 300: Rise of an Empire, we have already seen something like it. Parts prequel and sequel, this follow-on mostly occurs in parallel with the events depicted in 300 where a handful of bare-chested Spartans tried to hold off hundreds of thousands of exotic Persians. This time we get bare-chested aquatic Athenians proclaiming various platitudes about democracy and freedom Braveheart style.
300 is the wrong title for the movie though, there are way more than 300 soldiers defending Athens against wave after wave of Persian sacrificial lambs. The Persian navy employs a similar strategy to the army, attack the Greeks piecemeal instead of with the majority of your forces to ensure a vicious amount of slaughter for the audience to absorb before realizing it will take more than a few of your fearsome looking goons to achieve victory. Still, it is an odd feeling when the film’s title specifically refers to another movie and not the one you are watching.
The Rise of an Empire section tangentially relates to the present story though. In 480 BC, Greece is not a unified country; it is a haphazard conglomeration of disparate city-states; none particularly keen on coming to the aid of another. Persia, on the other hand, is a brutal dictatorship led by the self-proclaimed 10 foot tall God-king Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro). The Athenian military commander and hero is Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton). He espouses the film’s grander themes of Greek democratic ideals, freedom, and city-state unification; a ‘together we stand, divided we fall’ sort of platform. A video game, computer-generated comic book movie is not really the most effective medium in which to discuss such lofty concepts. 300: Rise of an Empire is not Watchmen (2009).
The Persian naval commander and outright star of the show is Artemisia (Eva Green). Green is the only female you remember from any of the Daniel Craig James Bond films as she also stole the show in Casino Royale (2006). In 300, she is a hyper-sexualized, sadistic, evil genius. Mostly clad in some variation of exotic fetish leather, Artemisia has a serious chip on her shoulder and wishes there were more Greeks hanging around whose blood she could set free from their veins. This is one bad ass chick.
Artemisia and Themistokles must each possess some perfect eagle eyesight. During confusing, messy battles full of gallons of spurting 3D blood where it is hard to tell apart who is who, these two stare each other down from what must be 200 yards away. There is also a 3D sex scene you may have heard about. How they accomplish the act is beyond me because they spend most of the time throwing each other across the room.
Concerning the visuals, the atmosphere is far darker than the sepia-hued 300. It is always cloudy and it appears the sun rarely shone in ancient Greece. 3D already makes the movie appear darker than it is but Rise of an Empire is noticeably eye-straining dark. The swooshing of the camera in and around flying body parts, both soaring above and then below the water line, and far too many extreme close-ups create a huge mess during battle scenes. It is near impossible to keep track of anybody.
One would think since it took seven years to get another 300 film to the screen after the enormous financial success of the first film, both the movie’s technological and narrative properties would surpass the original. Neither does. As in 300, there is far too much voice-over narration explaining the back story and the graphics feel lesser than the original. If all you are looking for is gushing blood, impalements, and some 3D boobs, Rise of an Empire is the movie for you. If you expected the original 300 plus some new innovation, you will not find it here.
300 is the wrong title for the movie though, there are way more than 300 soldiers defending Athens against wave after wave of Persian sacrificial lambs. The Persian navy employs a similar strategy to the army, attack the Greeks piecemeal instead of with the majority of your forces to ensure a vicious amount of slaughter for the audience to absorb before realizing it will take more than a few of your fearsome looking goons to achieve victory. Still, it is an odd feeling when the film’s title specifically refers to another movie and not the one you are watching.
The Rise of an Empire section tangentially relates to the present story though. In 480 BC, Greece is not a unified country; it is a haphazard conglomeration of disparate city-states; none particularly keen on coming to the aid of another. Persia, on the other hand, is a brutal dictatorship led by the self-proclaimed 10 foot tall God-king Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro). The Athenian military commander and hero is Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton). He espouses the film’s grander themes of Greek democratic ideals, freedom, and city-state unification; a ‘together we stand, divided we fall’ sort of platform. A video game, computer-generated comic book movie is not really the most effective medium in which to discuss such lofty concepts. 300: Rise of an Empire is not Watchmen (2009).
The Persian naval commander and outright star of the show is Artemisia (Eva Green). Green is the only female you remember from any of the Daniel Craig James Bond films as she also stole the show in Casino Royale (2006). In 300, she is a hyper-sexualized, sadistic, evil genius. Mostly clad in some variation of exotic fetish leather, Artemisia has a serious chip on her shoulder and wishes there were more Greeks hanging around whose blood she could set free from their veins. This is one bad ass chick.
Artemisia and Themistokles must each possess some perfect eagle eyesight. During confusing, messy battles full of gallons of spurting 3D blood where it is hard to tell apart who is who, these two stare each other down from what must be 200 yards away. There is also a 3D sex scene you may have heard about. How they accomplish the act is beyond me because they spend most of the time throwing each other across the room.
Concerning the visuals, the atmosphere is far darker than the sepia-hued 300. It is always cloudy and it appears the sun rarely shone in ancient Greece. 3D already makes the movie appear darker than it is but Rise of an Empire is noticeably eye-straining dark. The swooshing of the camera in and around flying body parts, both soaring above and then below the water line, and far too many extreme close-ups create a huge mess during battle scenes. It is near impossible to keep track of anybody.
One would think since it took seven years to get another 300 film to the screen after the enormous financial success of the first film, both the movie’s technological and narrative properties would surpass the original. Neither does. As in 300, there is far too much voice-over narration explaining the back story and the graphics feel lesser than the original. If all you are looking for is gushing blood, impalements, and some 3D boobs, Rise of an Empire is the movie for you. If you expected the original 300 plus some new innovation, you will not find it here.
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