REVIEW OF "300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE"

Eight years and a spoof (Meet the Spartans) later, we have in our hands not a prequel or a sequel but a side quell.

Noam Murro’s “300 Rise of an Empire” is the story of how an Athenian General, Themistokles, launched a naval sabotage against the Persians causing distress much similar to what Leonidas does on land. This is perhaps the first time that I have come across a period movie based on naval warfare. As queen Gorgo puts it “the war takes place on the tidal waves of the soldier’s blood”.

Athenian general Themistokles ends the Battle of Marathon with a single arrow and becomes a legend over night. Ten years later he gathers a navy against Persian invasion led by Artemisia (Eva Green) who is as ruthless as Xerxes is. In the meantime Leonidas marches to the hot gates with his brave 300 and wages his own battle. All hell breaks loose after the slaughter of Leonidas and his “abs”tastic 300.

“Seize the glory” might seem catchy but the true undertone of the movie is “vengeance”. Xerxes avenges his father, Artemisia avenges her family, and off course Queen Gorgo avenges Leonidas and the 300.

Despite being a different take with a different lead cast, the movie has its similarities to 300(2006) thanks to Zack Snyder’s effort behind the screenplay. If Leonidas’ red cape was an indication to the bloodshed that follows, the Athenian’s blue cape is an indication of the naval fight that lies ahead. No matter how well the two stories are connected the towering presence of Gerard Butler is deeply missed. Eva Green appears to have taken the major shouldering. The occasional flashbacks cause a somber effect in the screenplay (Artemisia’s for example).

The major credit goes to cg team that has made a nothing but green-background-studio-set into a thousand year old floating battlefield. Despite the gut wrenching, blood pilfering, bowel squeezing moments during the war, the movie lacks the substance that made 300 a special movie. Yes, this time too there is a father-son angle but that doesn’t engage us as much as it did the last time. Perhaps it was the Spartan’s death wish of a climax or the 300 times 6 abs or Zack Snyder at the helm or all of it together, it was missing this time around.

By itself, “Rise of Empire” is a good Greek-naval-period movie, but as a sequel to the “300” it falls short of the expectations that it garnered. It’s still a good piece of entertainment but some fans of “300”, like me, will feel hollow when they exit the screen.