There weren’t any new movies released this week, no good ones anyway, which gave me the chance to catch up and watch the movies I missed last week.

So here’s my round-up of Noam Murro’s (Smart People) 300: Rise of an Empire.

Please note that there may be spoilers. Read at your own risk.

THE STORY:

First of all, the film takes place side-by-side with the 2007 300, which means that it’s neither a prequel nor a sequel, although ample attention is given to the backstory as to why Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro – Love Actually) chose to launch an attack to the Greeks in the first place. It turns out that ten years earlier, Persian King Darius, father of Xerxes, intended to conquer Greece but was thwarted when Athenian Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton – Gangster Squad) put an arrow through his heart. Xerxes took his father’s death heavily and, upon the urging of the most powerful Persian commander Artemesia (Eva Green – Dark Shadows) – who happens to be Grecian but has intense hatred for the Greeks – sets about on a journey to become a God-King.

Fearing for the future of his country, Themistocles urges his countrymen to unite against Persia’s onslaught. Problem is, Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey – Gossip) is too distraught about her husband’s death to provide any Spartan help to his cause.

THE GOOD:

1. Eva Green. She was frakkin awesome! This was a movie all about Artemesia and I seriously can not think of any other actress who can pull off the dark and sinister with such balance and beauty. I read on the film’s trivia page that the movie’s working title was “300: The Battle of Artemesia” and personally I think they should’ve stuck to that. After all, they gave her the back story, the awesome clothes, the best lines and the most screen time.
   
2. The CGI. Considering that the film was filmed completely on dry land and against a green screen, the outcome was fantastic.
   
3. The Gore. One of the film’s selling points was the promise of senseless bloodbath. It did not disappoint. The action scenes were very beautifully choreographed so even though the film was generally dark, the fight scenes were still very easy to follow.
4. The Narration. I usually loathe movies that rely heavily on the narrative, but in this case I didn’t mind too much. Maybe it had everything to do with Lena Headey’s voice, I dunno, but it worked.
   
5. Rodrigo Santoro! Well, the normal Rodrigo Santoro, at least. We get to see him pre-Xerxes-fied.
   

THE BAD:

1. Themistocles. Well, not bad, per se, but it’s just that you put this guy side by side with Eva Green’s Artemesia, and he sort of pales in comparison. It’s not his fault, of course, and he tries, he really does but his star power is just no match and it’s very difficult to root for him when you know what Artemesia went through. Instead of the awesome backstory, all he got was a flimsy exposition (albeit beautifully shot) that had him launch an arrow through somebody.
   
   
2. The notable lack of pecs. I get that there were no Spartan abs in this movie because the protagonists of the film were normal, run-of-the-mill Athenians, but still. They were sorely missed.
   
3. That rebellious kid who deserved to get a huge slap from his father. He really got on my nerves and if it felt more like a rip-off of the same plot arc from the first movie than a tribute.
   

THE UGLY:

1. Queen Gorgo’s sudden decision to save the world. I dunno, it sort of came out of nowhere. She denied Themistocles’ begging twice and suddenly she says yes? Wtf?

All in all 300: Rise of an Empire is a fun, mindless movie and if you loved the first one, there’s really no reason to not like this one. Funnily enough, I don’t think that this is a movie that can stand on its own, without the tie-ins with the earlier 300; mostly I think it’s because they marketed it wrong. Had they only promoted it to be what it was – a movie about Artemesia – I don’t think they’d have this problem.

THE VERDICT: A respectable 7/10. Not a must-see but will keep you entertained for a couple of hours.

*All photos are lifted from the film’s IMDB page.