300: Rise of the Empire. Did we need it? No. Is it worth it? Sort of.

This is a completely unnecessary sequel/prequel to the original 300 film. However it is a great addition to the already good movie, even if it falls short of the quality of the prior. But let’s make something very clear. These movies made money because they looked cool. There isn’t anything really redeeming about them plot or story wise. But they are visually fantastic. So all you boys you argue graphics make the game, you should see these flicks and every other Zack Snyder movie.

            As it might have occurred to you when watching the first 300 movie, they never really address why Xerxes can’t just take his armies around the Gate by using his navy. This movie addresses that question in spades. Themistocles is the Athenian leader that rose into power by killing Xerxes’ father, Darius in a previous war. From there he tries to unite all of Greece under the banner of Democracy. This is met with mixed reviews but starts to work out when the Persians return to get revenge (mostly to slake the ire of Eva Green’s character as opposed to Xerxes). Here is where things get a little interesting. Leonidus then leads his doomed 300 to die at Thermopile and Themistocles uses this as the uniting factor to get all of Greece on his side. The Spartans then join him on the 4^th day of the battle and start taking names.

            This movie is good, but it fails in some areas that, if it didn’t, it would have been much better. One thing that was great about 300 was that every shot could have taken and placed in a teenage boy’s bedroom as a poster. There aren’t very many of those in Rise. The style of the first also came directly from the Frank Miller comic book and you could see frames of that comic book in the film. Rise isn’t based off a comic book and lacks those “comic book frame” shots that helped the first one look so appealing. The action scenes in this movie are, for the most part, pretty good, but there are some scenes that make little to no sense in the long run (I’m looking at you horsey) and they don’t look as good.
             The best thing that this movie has for itself is the acting. The two leads give a great performance. Sullivan Stapleton and Eva Green make this movie as great as they could and I really hope Sullivan does some more high brow work, whether that be more action flicks (which would be great) or more on the drama side. What can I say about Eva Green that hasn't already been said. That woman makes bad look so good so often that well...lets just say I've never thought leather was ever really a possibility until I watched this movie.
             One of the things that also kind of ruins this flick is that it doesn't complete the circle started in the first movie. The first one ends with Faramir *cough, I mean Dilios, getting ready to lead the big charge against Xerxes whereas this one ends on the naval battle instead of meeting us back there. It's a small error, but it throws off the jive a little. Besides, I think the end scene should have been of a united Greece instead of another unfinished battle.
              The roll of the dice give this movie a 7/10. It's smarter than the original, but doesn't use that to it's advantage. The visuals, although good, aren't as well thought out as the previous film. It's a good rent if you're in the mood.