300: Rise of an Empire

 
RELEASE DATE: March 7, 2014
DIRECTOR: Noam Murro
CAST: Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey, Rodrigo Santoro, David Wenham, Andrew Tiernan
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 43 mins

As much performance art as movie, ‘300: Rise of an Empire’ unfolds as beautiful, slow-motion machismo. Torsos bared, swords flashing, another 300 rock the leather skirts and loincloths with pounding, passionate music perfectly underscoring this latest round of the ‘beautiful death’ the ancient Greeks were so poetic about.
Though it is hard to replicate the freshness of the first, Rise is almost as visually stunning as 2006’s ‘300’, when Gerard Butler as King Leonidas sacrificed Sparta’s finest abs in a no-win battle against the Persian Xerxes. This time there is more to it than scantly clad men mud wrestling to hone their battle skills. A female demands the right to bear arms. Artemisia (Eva Green) is as fierce and brave as any man.
Zack Snyder, who directed the first, remains a guiding force in Rise. Director Noam Murro continues the arresting design ethos of ‘300’. The freeze-framing of the battle is amped up significantly, allowing much more time for the audience to absorb and appreciate.
Based on another story idea from Miller, Rise picks a different battle that unfolds around the same time as 300’s clash at the Hot Gates. This one is by sea and led by the slightly less buff but more philosophical Sullivan Stapleton, a naval general and part time politician.
Xerxes is technically still the nemesis. The one to watch is Artemisia, and not just because Green gets the best costume but because her character is as tactical a warrior as Themistokles, and she has a grudge to match.
Some of the 300 are back for Rise, most notably Leonidas wife, Queen Gorgo. She is also the film’s narrator.
There is a problem with the script. For all of its hyper realised visuals, ‘Rise of an Empire’ is a very talkie film. There is too much story to narrate. It is not that Headey is not a fine story-teller; the actress is actually quite good at bringing Greek mythology to life. But the film relies on her so much that it is sometimes a shock when a character actually speaks. 
Still, Green is a very magnetic villain, whose fight choreography is incredible. Opposite that force field, Stapleton is not quite as commanding. He is better on his own, with his men, on the high seas.
Those skirmishes are truly a tribute to the power of visual effects. The spectacularly brutal fighting is the film’s main calling card and does not disappoint. - See more at: http://magtheweekly.com/22-28mar2014/reviews_3.asp#sthash.R4RrrSAJ.dpuf