300: Rise of an Empire (2014), R, 1 star

The soldiers are going to work...again.

"THIS...IS...SPARTA!" King Leonidas exclaimed as he pushes a guy down the well. Remember 300? Mostly, everybody does. It was viewed a really quotable movie with great bloody visuals. After I watched the prequel, I suppose, I did not really share many people's enthusiasm with the movie as I found Zach Snyder's vision really distracting with super slow-mo sequences, distracting "creature" characters, and lack of imagination. Although, I did praise the visuals. However, this sequel desperately wants to be Snyder's 300. But, unfortunately, it failed the test.

The Athenian general, Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton), leads his army against King Darius' (Igal Naor) army of Persians into Greece in the Battle of Marathon. The Greeks brutally defeats the Persians while Themistocles kills Darius as Xerexes (Rodrigo Santoro), his son, watches the tragic death. Themistocles walks away as he sees Xerxes' eyes as Xerxes himself shows his anger and frustration in front of him that he will swear revenge on the Athenian general. Darius and Xerxes go home as they are joined by Artemisia (Eva Green), Darius' naval commander, hearing Darius' last words, claiming that it is a challenge to go on a journey through the desert and go through this liquid and become the "God-King". He journeys back to Persia and declares war on Greece.

Meanwhile, as Xerxes and his army travel on land through Thermopylae and Artemisia goes on water with her fleet, Themistocles meets with the council to discuss the naval strategy against the Persians. The Athenians are hesitant of sending the men into battle to sacrifice their own lives, but Themistocles insists that it is for the sake of freedom of Greece and also he adds as a footnote that they need help from the Spartans. It reveals it takes place sort of before, during and after the events of the first movie.

Themisotcles reunites with his old friend, Scyllas (Callan Mulvey, who learned that Artemisia was born Greek but defected to Persia since the soldiers killed her parents and raped her. Themisotcles leads his men to the Aegean Sea where they rams their ships into the enemy's ships and try to defeat the Persians before retreating. And out of nowhere, while Artemisia is impressed with Themistocles' combat skills, she brings Themistocles onto the ship to have sex. Well, I guess the filmmakers put it in there just for the guys, but has no relevance to the material. In the end, the sex was a bribe for Artemisia to offer Themistocles a place in the army, but refuses. The battle is on between the Greeks and Persians.

Artemisia (Eva Green) shooting an arrow at the enemy.

I am at a loss for words because I do not know where to start critiquing. This movie is just cartoonish and violent buffoonery. Comparing this movie to the prequel, 300 is just a violent masterpiece with stunning visuals. In this second movie, the plot meanders with just activity and abs, but it does not do justice. The movie is just behavior, yelling, water, gore, and sex during a war with some pleasant production and dull slow motion.

Sullivan Stapleton does not give a memorable performance or as memorable as Gerard Butler's. Butler anchored the movie quite well with his presence but sometimes his Scottish accent interfered with his performance. His supporting players were not as charismatic, either. Lena Headey, back portraying as Queen Gorgo, and Rodrigo Santoro are back from the first movie but they lack charm. Gorgo's narration was a bit of a letdown. The only performance I thought was fun to carry along this movie was Eva Green's. Her performance was fun and had villainy charm. But, her character becomes a caricature near the end. Basically, she was there only for looks and the unnecessary sex scene.

This movie was just a stylish exercise of gore and creative bloody action sequences. In terms of quality and plot, this sequel is a step down in this medieval genre. I think that teenagers and young adults who are high will enjoy and endure this film. However, I did not care for this movie and after watching this movie, I might need to watch 300 again just to see if I really thought I did not like that movie. I stand alone on my strong, negative reaction to this movie.

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