Though it wasn’t a critical darling, audiences raved about 300 in 2007 because of its groundbreaking visuals. There hadn’t ever been a film that looked like 300, which brought Frank Miller‘s comic book about the Battle of Thermopylae during the Persian Wars to life. Through a combination of the visual effects, manly-man dialogue, and buckets of blood, 300 became a major success, grossing over $450 million worldwide and catapulting director Zack Snyder to even bigger comic book projects like Watchmen and Man of Steel. Famously, it made its entire budget back in its first weekend of release.
With grosses like that, a sequel was inevitable. Though 300: Rise of an Empire is technically based on Frank Miller’s follow-up to 300, Xerxes, that graphic novel actually hasn’t been published yet. As a result, it really isn’t clear how much 300: Rise of an Empire is based on Miller’s work. While Snyder did not return to direct (Noam Murro, whose only previous film directing credit is the little-seen Dennis Quaid/Sarah Jessica Parker 2008 comedy Smart People, is behind the camera this time), he serves as producer and co-wrote the screenplay with Kurt Johnstad, one of the co-writers he worked with on the original. A number of actors reprise their roles from the original (but not star Gerard Butler, who only appears in brief clips from the first film for obvious reasons), since 300: Rise of an Empire takes place before, during, and after the events of 300.
300: Rise of an Empire presents historical fantasy versions of the Battle of Artemisium and the Battle of Salamis, two naval battles that Greece fought against Persia during Xerxes’ invasion. Much of the plot is focused on how these battles are tied to the outcome of the Battle of Thermopylae (i.e., the battle in 300), so this is one of those sequels that seeing the first movie is absolutely necessary to understanding what is going on. In fact, newcomers to the world of 300 will doubtlessly be confused about these semi-fictional world if they are unfamiliar with the first movie.
Though Rodrigo Santoro (Xerxes), Lena Headey (Queen Gorgo) and David Wenham (Dilios) are three of the returning cast members, the lead characters here are Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton), an Athenian general, who leads a desperately outnumbered force of Greeks against the Persian Navy led by Artemisia (an absolutely beautiful Eva Green), a ruthless commander who despises Greece. Her battles with Themistocles take on an increasing personal quality.
I’ve never thought of Gerard Butler as a particularly good actor (even though he impressed me in Coriolanus), but his presence is sorely missed. Stapleton doesn’t have the screen presence of Butler (or, for that matter, the abs), and it’s hard to see him as anything other than a less intense version of Leonidas. Instead, Green’s Artemisia is the far more interesting character. She is a malevolent woman in the world of men’s wars, and she doesn’t feel like a character who is shoehorned into the film to give it broader appeal. In fact, I imagine many people will end up rooting for her since she overwhelms Stapleton in screen presence.
Like the original, 300: Rise of an Empire is incredibly violent, though in an exaggerated way. It seemed a lot more dialogue-heavy to me than 300, but perhaps that is only because there aren’t as many memorable lines. I think that is why I suspect Frank Miller had little to do with writing this because for all you can criticize him for (like the total awfulness of the only movie he directed himself, The Spirit), he knows how to write memorable one-liners. 300: Rise of an Empire also contains what has to be the most violent sex scene I’ve ever seen in a movie that is apparently still enjoyable to both parties.
One of the more clever aspects of 300: Rise of an Empire is that because the battles are fought at sea it doesn’t simply repeat the story beats of 300. However, 300: Rise of an Empire is still missing that element of uniqueness that the original had simply because it’s no long unique. Several films have tried to repeat the success of 300 by appropriating its visual style (like Immortals), so 300: Rise of an Empire doesn’t quite have that new car smell, if you get what I mean. Still, fans of the original will doubtlessly love this follow-up, even if at times it feels like it’s just a few steps above a direct-to-video spinoff of the original because of the mostly-new cast (like The Scorpion King 2 or something) and somewhat rehashed story.
But if you ever found yourself yelling out “THIS IS SPARTA!” over the last seven years, you’ll love a second helping of 300 anyway.
Rating: While still enjoyable, like most sequels it doesn’t have the originality that made the first film so memorable (6/10).
Recent Comments