Friday 7 November 2014

Review: 300: Rise of an Empire (2014)

Back in 2006 I saw 300 at the cinema with my college gang. It was the first time I'd seen anything like it, and I wasn't really looking forward to it either. Back then, if it didn't have Jim Carrey or Jennifer Aniston in, I wasn't interested. But I went along anyway, and do you know what? I loved it! So much so, that I can't believe I never saw 300: Rise of an Empire at the cinema.


Last Sunday I had a massive hangover, and I'd survived 2 nights with a total of 6 hours sleep. I'd had a catch up night with an old high school friend, and a night out on the town for another friend's birthday. Oh, and I was dog sitting that day too. I knew I needed something action packed just so that I wouldn't fall asleep right there in the sofa.

300: Rise of an Empire is a prequel, side story and sequel to the original, in a way. It tells the tale of Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) and his quest to unite Greece in the battle against the Persian army, led by the God King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and Artemisia (Eva Green).

Let me cut straight to the chase here, this isn't as good as the original, and although I thought  Themistokles was a great main character, his allies are completely forgettable and pretty predictable.


However, if you sit back and let yourself enjoy this film for what it is, you'll be pleasantly surprised. The visuals were fantastic, and the choreography really shined through all of the slow motion parts of the action. I've never even heard of Sullivan Stapleton but I thought he did a fantastic job as the lead. Lena Headey's narration really tied things together, although sometimes there was just a bit too much. That may have been my hangover talking though.

There was also a very nicely done NSFT/NSFP/NSFD or indeed, not safe for anywhere but the sofa scene which was nothing but enjoyable. Trust me. ;-)

Oh and for anyone who's watched Starz's Spartacus TV Show, yay for that quick moment with our beloved Doctore, Oenomaus!

Overall, if you enjoyed 300 then give this a go if you haven't already, but if you were never keen on the original to begin with, then you may as well steer clear of this.

6 comments:

  1. Great review, Allie. I thought this one was fun, but messy, and definitely not as good as the original. I'll be posting my own review of it soon.

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    1. I absolutely agree with you, and I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts on it :)
      - Allie

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  2. Heh, we are in disagreement on this one. There is a scene or two that I thought worked here, and Eva Green was certainly great. But on the whole, I personally thought this movie was a dud. :P

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    1. It definitely wasn't the greatest film I've ever seen, but with very little sleep and a raging hangover, it was a perfect no-effort watch for me :D
      - Allie

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  3. I did see this in the theatres. Its not really worth it. But you got it completely right. This one is pure brainless entertainment. Its done well enough but far from as good as 300. :) My issue was with Themistokles not really as great as Leonidas.

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    1. Absolutely. I did really like Themistokles, but he was certainly no Leonidas. I don't think anyone could top that performance!
      - Allie

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