300 : La Naissance d'un empire

Is it a 300 prequel, sequel, or set concurrently with the events of 300? Yes. It somehow manages to be all of the above, and manages to come up with a story that leads up to the events of the original and sorta what happens afterwards as well as creating a storyline of what was happening at the same time somewhere else. It's also always fun when original actors return in cameos to reprise their roles to give further character backstory especially the "this is madness!" guy who manages to get a quick story arc.

I can't understand why Zack Snyder didn't direct this sequel, and how someone who has never directed an action sequence before and just one feature film can be entrusted with a production of this magnitude. That would already be a recipe for disaster, even though in reality Snyder was supervising.

In an attempt to live up to it's predecessor, 300: Rise of An Empire is action-packed, presents impressive visuals and is very bloody. In fact there is more action, more blood, and more nudity than in the original 300. As for the plot, there really isn't much to chew on. A naval commander, Themistocles is supposedly trying to reunite Greece. Since the story takes place before, during and after King Leonidas leads his men to fight the Persians, it can be hard to follow at times.

Most of the acting was mediocre and couldn't quite compensate for the weaknesses in the story. The Australian actor cast as Themistocles in my opinion was a very bad choice, and comes nowhere close to what Gerard Butler did as King Leonidas in 300. He just doesn't bring that rugged heroic presence on screen as is expected. Interestingly I read somewhere that director Noam Murro insisted it would be Sullivan Stapleton who played this character, claiming he was 'the one'. Eva Green on the other hand is plays an excellent villain as Artemisia.

Not as good as the first one, but still watchable.

This is a flawed sequel-prequel to 300 focusing on Themistocles the legendary leader of the Athenian forces who killed King Darius during the battle of Marathon. The King's son Xerxes swears revenge as he is transformed into a campy looking warrior king and launches total war on the Greeks. He is supported by a female Persian General of Greek origin, Artemisia (Eva Green) who wants revenge on the Greeks who killed her parents and raped her as a child.

Themistocles has got together a band of farmers to train and take on the Persian army in some crafty sea battles.

300 the sequel is all over the place in tone and consistency. It lacks the graphic novel look of the original. Its inconsistent, whereas the Spartans were born and trained fighters, here the farmers suddenly become victorious warriors as if the screenwriters have a grudge against Persians or modern day Iran!

The Greeks might value freedom but raped and enslaved a little girl. The Persians might value autocratic rule but made a female Greek, a general.

Even Lena Headey the narrator and the wife of Gerard Butler in the original is transformed into a tough warrior Queen. The violence is bloody and brutal but the film has a whiff of homo erotic campiness mixed with bland acting leaving only Eva Green to steal her scenes as Artemesia the ruthless fighter and temptress.

How the hell did the producers manage to take a superb movie and savagely sodomize it with this emetic sequel.. Bloody hell.