One of the most striking moments from recent cinema is when Spartan King Leonidas kicks a Persian messenger into a hole as he howls the words “This is Sparta!” in the original “300.” While the newest movie in the series, “300: Rise of an Empire,” lacks any singular moment that is as memorable, it still has several great moments of its own.
The film stems off from the story in the original to tell the tale of a band of Athenians warriors, but stays in the same time period of the Greco-Persian War. The timeline can get a bit confusing, as “Rise of an Empire” is both a prequel and sequel to the original movie, starting out before the events of “300,” but ending a few days after. Several references are made to the events of the original, even going so far as adding a scene that takes place minutes after the end of “300.” A messenger about halfway through “Rise of an Empire” tells the Greeks that Leonidas and his 300 Spartans have died (the ending to the first movie), establishing a comparison of setting between the two films.
“Rise of an Empire” tells the story of several Greek marines, lead by the film’s protagonist, Themistocles, who goes to war in an attempt to save the city of Athens from the Persian invasion in the 4th century B.C. While Themistocles and his warriors have no problem keeping attention on themselves and remain interesting, they don’t quite stand up the the alluring concept of the Spartans in the first film. Themistocles manages to be a heroic and fascinating lead character, but both his lines and portrayal fall under the shadow of Leonidas’ legendary bravado from the original film.
The main plot was more layered than that of the original film, yet doesn’t seem as significant. The story has both a larger time frame and more locations and events than the original, which certainly kept it interesting. The film is paced somewhat slow, but manages to keep an atmosphere of slight suspense, which turns out to be a huge plus. Themistocles faces off against a Persian navy several times the size of his own Greek fleet throughout most of the film, and despite the same armies engaging each other several times over the course of the story, the battles never get old. Unfortunately the movie contains nothing that can compare to the significance of Leonidas’ sacrifice in the original, but it would be wrong to say the plot in “Rise of an Empire” isn’t intriguing despite lacking the signification of the original.
The film’s strongest point, and one of the few categories where it trumps its predecessor, is in its effects. They don’t call movies like this ‘war porn’ for nothing. Decapitations, stabbings, cutting of limbs and all varieties of gore are common place in the film, and the special effects of blood flying through the air and explosions is all realistic and beautifully done. This movie was a great choice for 3D, which really added a realistic kick to the battles. Slow motion segments are much fewer in this film compared to “300,” with most of the battles being fast paced and in real time. There is one oddly placed and unnecessary slow-mo early on of a horse’s face, however.
Another strong point of the film is the acting. Lead actor Sullivan Stapleton gave Themistocles life and did a great job portraying him as brave and dedicated to his cause of defending and uniting Greece. Eva Green, who plays Persian admiral Artemisia, blows her performance out of the water, radiating her character’s coldness and anger toward the Greeks. Minor characters’ performances were generally unstriking, but were by no means bad. The only awkward performances from Stapleton and Green was the world’s oddest sex scene, in which it was difficult to distinguish if they were doing the deed or attempting to murder each other. There’s no joke there; it was honestly hard to tell for the duration of the scene.
“Rise of an Empire” took a much more mythological approach to the events in the film. The original “300” was more or less based on historical events, with only minor modifications added. “Rise of an Empire” is based off the real battles of Salamis and Marathon, but the film takes many liberties with the events. A few historical characters are killed in this film that in reality survived the entire war. Another inaccuracy is that none of the main characters, Xerxes, Artemesia or Themistocles participated in the battle of Salamis, where the majority of the film takes place.
Another thing the previous film never did was pass into magic. While there are some odd or unbelievable moments in the original “300” such as the general with knives for hands or the deformed immortals, “Rise of an Empire” extends that. The film features sea serpents, gold tinted, otherworldly water and magical hermits in caves.The history of Xerxes is explained in the movie as him basking in the gold water and losing his humanity, transforming him into a nine foot tall God-king, which isn’t exactly realistic.
Despite it falling short in several sectors in comparison to its predecessor, “300: Rise of an Empire” is still a very entertaining movie that’s definitely worth a watch for fans of the ancient war genre. The film’s top notch effects along with the solid plot and acting come together and despite some historical inaccuracies, form an adrenaline pumping two hour experience. For Sparta!
