300 2 : The Rise of an Empire

Sequel to the comic-book adaptation, 300, it follows sadly not the spartans this time but follows Athens warriors instead, with their leader being General Themistocles. The follow- up takes place before, during and after events in the last film. 

The narrator this time is the Queen (played by Lena Headey). She goes to tell the stories of the film's new villain and gives backstory to the bad guy seen in the first film, Xerxes (played by Rodrigo Santoro). Eva Greene plays the new villain named Artemisia. Her story is what seemingly got the first film to happen as she was the one to convince Xerxes to become a god king. Xerxes father was killed at the hands of the General of Athens. 

The film took a long time to come out and sadly is lacking some. As the film is not directed by Zack Snyder it has a more real feel, which for this series doesn't really fit. Noam Murro directs. Rise is in no way terrible but it lacks some due to the copy cat Immortals that came out between the two films. If the new sequel had been directed by Zack Snyder I am sure there would have been a more comic book feel. 

I enjoyed the movie very much, don't get me wrong. Eva Green was the best part. And I loved the fact that the survivors of the first film made a welcome return, even David Wenham (the eyepatch spartan) returns in a small role. 

What the film lacks is its main focus, the spartans. The creators decided to follow another group of warriors rather than the spartans. I mean the spartans still have an excellent leader (or leaders) in the way of Lena Headey and David Wenham. One other problem that made me grumble once leaving the theatre was the ending.

The film concludes with spartan and athens converging on Xerxes army, it ends here. I could see it coming from a mile away and it was disappointing. 

I agree with filmmaker Gareth Edwards in what he said about how the main focus should be just on the one film. Give it a solid open and close ending, don't leave things hanging. Christopher Nolan is the same. We need more films that tie everything up in the end and give a highlight for future events, not cutting off right when something big is about to happen. 

The acting is still top notch in this, the action intense, the blood gushes, and the plot in the first two acts is solid. I loved the visuals and the score was not half bad. 

An enjoyable action film, while it does not quiet live up to the original film it still makes for an entertaining time at the movies. 

Rating: B