At least the Greeks have Thermopylae. 300: Rise of An Empire attempts to replicate the style and machismo of the original 300, with limited success. Were it not for the presence of Eva Green and her cold hard revenge, 300: Rise of An Empire (like the male star, Sullivan Stapleton) would be masquerading as something cool and fun that is in actuality kinda boring and no longer cool. Athens apparently is a poor substitute for Sparta.
300: Rise of an Empire is a sidequel (it occurs simultaneously with its predecessor). While Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) fights Leonidas and Sparta, Artemisia (Eva Green) takes the massive Persian navy and attacks the undermatched Athenians. She is matched by Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton), the hero of the battle of Marathon a decade earlier. Thmistokles goal is to unite the city states of Greece under one free nation, so he repeatedly seeks the help of the Spartan Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey), Leonidas’s widow, to aid in the defense of their nation.
300 was cool in part because of its style. 300: Rise of An Empire mostly retains the same techniques of the first film. There is more blood and violence here, using the blood splashing and slow motion violence to solid effect. The fight scenes are well executed, though lacking a little of the fluidity and oddity of the villains of the first movie. (Athenian fighting is one-on-one, whereas Spartan fighting in the first 300 is a single army unit moving as one.) Where 300: Rise of An Empire adds some substance is in the sexuality. The first movie was about misogyny and how strong men can be. 300: Rise of An Empire throws an equally capable female into the mix. Artemisia is given such a tragic backstory that during the naval warfare, I was torn on who to root for. She is cold, calculating, and the right amount of unhinged, culminating in the most literal sexual power struggle I have seen on-screen in some time.
Too bad the movie picks the wrong side and wrong story. The movie uses the peripheral characters in the original 300 in addition to Themistokles to drive the narrative. Themistokles is supposed to stoke the macho fire in every guy like Leonidas did, but lengthy speeches about freedom and no “This is SPARTA!!!” moment turn the character into the movie’s vapid wasteland for time. One person in my theater actually fell asleep TWICE when the movie focused on him. The more compelling angle would be to parallel Eva Green’s story with Leonidas’s martyrdom to force the audience to pick sides in a sequel, or really focus on the political machinations of uniting Greece. Instead, we get half formed subplots surrounding a retread of the first film with a big hole at its center and logic holes throughout: one character is right in front of an explosion and no damage is done to their face, and another boards an enemy ship to speak to the villain with no guards for himself. As a result, each battle yields less returns, and the payoffs are mostly nonexistent.
Why does everyone in 300: Rise of an Empire look so pained? This movie should be fun. The one GREAT exception is Eva Green. Her gaze alone strikes fear in the audience when she speaks where her words manifest the depravity and soullessness that her eyes deliver. I was riveted anytime she was on-screen, and 300: Rise of An Empire suffers mightily without her presence. Lena Headey and Rodrigo Santoro (along with a cameo from David Wenham) are the holdovers from the first movie; neither gets enough screen time to leave a great lasting impression although there is promise there. Sullivan Stapleton is channeling the Ghost of Gerard Butler’s Leonidas without any of the fierce pride Butler brought to the part. Stapleton also has trouble conveying deep sadness, which ruins any chance at making Themistokles complex. The Athenian’s companions are equally unmemorable 6-packs in short shorts.
300: Rise of an Empire leaves itself easy for a joke about a particular male organ. I’ll take the high road and say that you should see this movie only for Eva Green’s lifeless glares and pure evil. Plus one of the most ridiculous sex scenes outside of a Nicholas Cage movie. That should be phallic enough for you.