300: Rise of an Empire [2014] – Review
Greek general Themistokles leads the charge against invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes and Artemisia, vengeful commander of the Persian navy.
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300: Rise of an Empire is extremely bloody, overly violent, and totally AWESOME! New director Noam Murro takes over for Zack Snyder and doesn’t miss a beat. It completely ties in to Leonidas story and is almost as if it is running simultaneously. The story is outrageous and not as original as the first, but by the end you feel empowered to join forces against the Persians. Rise of an Empire also delivers some of the best combat scenes to ever be put on film. Eva Green is a huge standout in the film as the main villain Artemisia. Although there are no amazing leads as Gerald Butler’s Leonidas, Lena Headey and newcomer Sullivan Stapleton lead the charge well for our heroes. 300 Rise of an Empire is everything I wanted in a sequel and the action scenes alone are worth the price of admission. Rise and bow to the next King of the box office!
8 out of 10 Stars “You fight harder than you fuck!”
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(some spoilers ahead)
Highlights –
Artemisia – I knew nothing about this girl before the movie. Eva Green is so menacing and beautiful, she steals every scene she is in. This role will shoot her into stardom.
Action – Some of the most amazing action sequences ever to be put on film. I caught myself being in awe many times. Some scenes are so violent that it may be hard to watch, but the choreography is beautiful. I mean who puts a horse in the middle of a naval battle?? I don’t know, but it’s bad ass!
Cinematography – Once again, Rise of an Empire has the same look and feel of the first movie. It fits in perfectly with the 2006 film and added so much more detail. The gloomy clouds and the violent seas make for a perfect adaptation to the comic book
Pulsating Drums – The soundtrack plays a huge role of making you feel as if you were right in the middle of battle
Problems –
Predictable – The story is pretty predictable. What the Spartans did in the first film, unites the countries together to fight off the Persians
Similarities – I wish there were a little more originality to the sequence of the movie. It’s a little too similar to the first 300. They fight one sequence, win, then fight another sequence the next day, then the final sequence.
Slow mo – A lot of people complain about the slo-mo of the first film, this movie has just as much or if not more.
Spartans – Missing are the cockiness of the Spartan army. We are left with an army of normal men lead by their general against the naval force of the Persains.
Scene Screened 