Movie Review: 300 Rise of an Empire
As different studios try to find new ways to excite audiences saturated with cookie-cutter formula films across all genres, the odds of stumbling onto an idea that not only works the first time (when it has novelty value) but that can be developed into a profitable franchise are very slim indeed.
Xerxes believes he is part man and part god.
Frank Miller’s graphic novels have provided the source material for a number of successful projects already, including Sin City and the first 300. The latter film, once the fuss about its star Gerard Butler wearing leather undies had died down, was punted on the strength of its striking visual style. Cynics were then surprised when it delivered something more than mere cosmetic value – anyone with the vaguest awareness of the historical event the story was based on how it ended, but the ride to that inevitable conclusion was more enjoyable than expected.
The same is true of this sequel. Set at the same time as the original film, it deals with the exploits of Themistocles (charismatic Australian actor Sullivan Stapleton), who was fighting the massive Persian army on multiple fronts while Sparta’s King Leonidas (Butler) was heading off to Thermopylae to get slaughtered.
There’s no depth and little character development here, but there doesn’t need to be. It’s a war story built around ancient legends of heroes and villains (including Eva Green, as Persian general Artemisia), and the odd sepia wash in which it all takes place (another carry-over from the first film) adds to the sense of spectacle on which the whole project stands or falls. As an adaptation of a graphic novel, 300 – Rise Of An Empire is brilliant. Those publications are meant for adults who are looking for overwrought, blood-spattered escapism, and this 3D, big-screen effort offers all those attractions on a bigger, louder and messier scale than ever.
It’s not all brashness and brawn, however, as Themistocles is a canny, cunning operator, and his ability to resist and occasionally overcome the superior forces of the Persians to keep alive his hope of a united Greece.
The violence is graphic – in all senses of the word – and non-stop. Don’t let kids anywhere near it, but enjoy if you’re a fan of comic books or classical history.
