Cinema Review: 300 Rise of an Empire

Rise of an Empire is both a prequel and sequel to the original  movie 300.

Rise of the Empire follows the sea battle (where 300 was focused on land) between the Greeks who are lead by the general Themistocles, against the Persian forces led by Xerxes and Artemisia.

It’s essentially the same film, but with the added spectacle of ships crashing into each other on the digitally rendered high seas around Ancient Greece.

While the movie is nothing spectacular it was enjoyable to watch – the fight scenes were well done, but the slow motion is way overused towards the end. The story line is well presented (though its been many years since I’ve studied this topic and I don’t know how accurate this movie is), and the performances differ from average to fantastic.

As far as characters go, Rise of an Empire had some big shoes to fill. And where Gerard Butler is lost, Eva Green’s crowd-pleasing portrayal of Artemisia is gained. Ferocious is the only word to describe Xerxes’ toughest and most reliable ally, as Eva Green undoubtedly upstages everyone with pure insanity – and clearly relishes in the opportunity to do so – in her quest to annihilate the series new hero, Athenian general Themistocles.

Rodrigo Santoro reprises his role as Xerxes as once again – and while he is not in Rise of the Empire as much as 300 – his performance is still quite good.

If you like 300, you’re sure to like this, but it is still a step down from its predecessor.

Rating 5/10