300: Rise of an Empire movie review

I've heard from some people that if you took all the slow motion shots in 300 and played them normally, the film would be 22 minutes shorter. After seeing this movie, I'm really curious how short this one would be.

So 300: Rise of an Empire is the highly anticipated sequel to Zack Snyders 300. This film stars Sullivan Stapleton & Eva Green, as well as most of the characters in the first film. So, this being a sequel, I'm going to compare it to the first film, there's no avoiding that. And all around, they're on the same level.

Alright, I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's talk about the good parts. First off, I like the main character of the film. He was your basic action hero guy, but he was still pretty damn badass. In fact I would argue almost as badass as Leonidas. Except this time around, he's not a Spartan, he's an Athenian. They have a different lifestyle, when one of them dies it's not the great thing it is to Spartans. And what I liked about this is that it shows the contrast of Spartan & Athenian lifestyle. And the film does spend a lot of time with the Athenian characters.

However, that also leads to one of my bigger issues with the film. There is so much stuff this movie tries to jam pack into it. Regardless of whether or not they led to interesting scenes, there was just way too much happening. There's this thing with Zerxes, there's some history to all the characters, everyone ties into the first film somehow, there's a revenge element, and all this on top of the actual plot. It was a really crowded film. 

Another thing I didn't like (and I may sound like Captain Obvious for saying this) was how ridiculous the film was. Yeah, I know that I had to expect some level or ridiculous, coming from a film about a bunch of shirtless dudes fighting in slow-motion. But there are some scenes that are way too over the top, and way too odd. 

In terms of entertainment, this film is pretty entertaining during it's action sequences. They have all the stuff you know from the first 300, but this film is about Naval combat, so it brings in some new elements as well. The action is also very memorable, and the way they use the water in the film leads to some very memorable scenes.

But enough of the stuff that was good or bad, lets get to the absolute best part of the film. The villain, Artemisa. She's cold. She's violent. She has great lines. And Eva Green totally owns the role and steals every scene she's in. Not to mention, she actually has an interesting backstory. Something that's kinda rare for villains these days. She actually reminded me of Lena Heady's character in Dredd, just so evil and violent that you can't help but enjoying this character.

Final Rating

So, overall, 300: Rise of an Empire is decent. It has a quite a few flaws, and it went overboard a couple of times. But it makes up for this with memorable action sequences and a badass lead. And, again, an amazing villain. Honestly, I'd say this is on an equal level to the first film. If you liked the first 300, I'd say go check out this movie.

300 Rise of an Empire: 3.6/5