300: Rise of an Empire Review
Posted by Stephen Lambrechts - 5/3/2014
Wooden ships. Luxuriate on those words for a moment, as 300: Rise of an Empire is oft to do, for it is in these words that come much of the series' overall appeal. These are films of hard men and women - of flesh and blood, iron and wood, and above all, muscles and oil. Wooden ships are about as comfortable as things get in Ancient Greece when it’s constantly at war with Xerxes' Persian armies.
Originally thought to be the main focus of this sequel, the Persian god-king Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro, getting to show what he really looks like this time around) once again takes a backseat in favour of much, much sexier people. These people are Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton), taking on hero duties after Gerard Butler's Leonidas fell at the end of the last film, and the film's real antagonist, Artemisia (Eva Green).
The events of 300: Rise of an Empire take place around the same time as those of the first film (and a bit afterwards, as well). While King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans hold Xerxes' armies at the Hot Gates of Thermopylae, the Athenian general Themistocles attempts to unite the rest of Greece in an attempt to end the war once and for all. Themistocles feels responsible for the creation of Xerxes’ vengeful god form, having failed to kill him when he had the chance years ago. Little does he know that it was Artemisia that really inspired Xerxes transformation.
Artemisia is a Greek fighting on the side of the Persians, and while that may seem like a traitorous act, a flashback detailing the butchering and raping of her family by the Greeks, and everything that came her way as a child after that, means that we can hardly blame her when she goes on her many Greek decapitation sprees. Eva Green is dynamite in the role. By far the standout performance of the film, Green is at once ridiculously sexy and dangerous, with sword skills to match any of Greece's best warriors.
Sullivan Stapleton does a good job with what he’s been given as the film's traditional hero. Butler's larger than life antics as Leonidas in the previous film were always going to leave behind impossible shoes to fill. Thankfully, Stapleton doesn't attempt a pale imitation. He plays his character completely straight, all nobility and heroism with very little showboating. He leaves Green with the film’s show-stealing performance. What 300: Rise of an Empire lacks in Gerard Butler, it makes up for tenfold in Eva Green. Lena Headey also returns as Queen Gorgo, who finally gets to do some ass-kicking of her own.
Stepleton and Green only share a couple of scenes together, but they're two of the best in the film. The first is a 'negotiation' of sorts that involves the two supreme leaders attempting to wrestle power from each other mid-coitus, their literal tumbling for dominance in the sack a reflection of their figurative positions on the battlefield. The other of course, is their inevitable violent confrontation.
While producer Zack Snyder has handed directorial duties to Noam Murro (Smart People) for this outing, not a beat has been missed. The action is even bloodier and more visceral than before, with the series’ unique painterly look completely intact. This film is also more visually consistent than the first. Every single shot looks storyboarded, even the mundane stuff, whereas some of the scenes in the original 300 (particularly those in the senate and around town) felt like second unit shot them after they'd run out of money. Those familiar with Murro’s tremendous Halo: Reach commercials won’t be surprised by his supreme command of the film’s epic visuals.
Stylistically, the film begins with Murro’s rampant use of Snyder’s trademark speed-ramping and slow-mo, but eventually settles into its own style, opting for extended takes of Themistocles and co. cutting down waves of enemies with volcano-like eruptions of blood and cascading body parts following after every swing of a sword. The scale of the each battle is bigger, the violence is even more graphic, and Themistocles kicks even more ass than Leonidas. He and his warriors aren’t quite as iconic as Leonidas and his Spartans, but who could ever hope to be? The same can be said about the men at Themistocles' side, with personalities (and abdominal muscles) that aren't quite as defined as the ones that came before them.
The battles in the film are largely of the naval variety, with various scenes of wooden ships outmaneuvering, flanking and smashing into each other, and scores of dudes leaping from ship to ship, bringing down their blades and hacking limbs apart. While it all starts to get a bit samey after a while, a ludicrous addition like the sudden appearance of a horse on a ship keep things surprising and absurdly entertaining.
300: Rise of an Empire largely lives up to its predecessor. It features epic action, glorious sex and violence, a brilliant antogonist (that is more interesting than any of the protagonists) and a healthy dose of myth-making. Those looking for closure to the Xerxes story will have to keep waiting, as the film ends with what seems like an obvious opening for another sequel.
The dialogue is camp one moment, and wooden (like the ships) the next, but in all honesty that's part of this series' charm (and is probably intentional). There aren't any catchphrases as iconic as "This is Sparta!" this time around, but at the very least it will likely inspire you to yell "Shut your cockhole!" at your mates the next time they're mouthing off.
★★★★
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