300: Rise of an Empire
Don't Go! More Graphic, but less novel.
Stylised warriors return to battle.
With 300 (2006), director Zack Snyder decapitated the comic book genre with his adaptation of a Frank Miller graphic novel that was violent, sexy and beautifully shot with highly-defined, slow-motion slaughtering and mid-battle amputations. It was a box office hit with women as well as men - a difficult task with so much brutality on show; but muscular, topless men in pants with beards and big swords somehow managed to appeal to both sexes. The tale of three hundred noble Spartans taking on the big, gold demi-god Xerxes and his Persian hoards got the blood flowing (on screen as well as in theatres); and with a then little-known Scot named Gerard Butler (actually in a role that suited him) and embodying the powerful King Leonidas with a youthful Michael Fassbender by his side, the modern retelling of an ancient Greek myth cemented its cult cinema status.
8 years on and we are given 300: Rise of an Empire - not quite a sequel but more of a different perspective on the war in the original film. This version, directed by newby Noam Murro, focusses on the Athenians' naval battles with the Persians immediately after the Spartans' demise. Xerxes is reprised by Rodrigo Santoro (Love Actually - who knew!?) and we are told his back-story, but the real enemy on this occasion is the sinister and spicy Artemesia, played by Eva Green (Casino Royale). The finest warrior in Persia, her objective is to take over Greece by overwhelming Themistocles (played by Aussie person, Sullivan Stapleton) and his Athenian army.
Sadly, Jesse Pinkman (Breaking Bad) lookalike Sullivan Stapleton is no Gerard Butler (which is a compliment only on this occasion), and his enduring lack of presence embodies the difference between the two films. Yes, there is more blood spilt and more limbs are sliced off, but little does that do for a weaker and far less romantic storyline. Eva Green arguably adds a couple degrees of heat, and sure, the film looks great - giving the stylish sepia and black of the original a blue-hued makeover - but we've seen all that before and even the addition of rich 3D is insufficient to salvage the lack of character impact. Simply put, King Leonidas would make mincemeat of Themistocles, and 300 beats lumps out of Rise of an Empire. It's all a bit, "yeah...but meh".
So don't go. Watch 300 again instead (as I am just about to do) and see what real men do when a lanky, gold, bald, jewellery stand threatens their nation.
So don't go. Watch 300 again instead (as I am just about to do) and see what real men do when a lanky, gold, bald, jewellery stand threatens their nation.
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