300: Rise of an Empire- limp

If all you care about is violent combat scenes you'll love this movie.  If you care about plot, acting, or anything else, you probably won't.

I knew the sequel to the amazing "300" was in trouble when I saw there would be a different director.  This uninspired edition takes place after the original 300 all perish at the hands of the cartoonishly evil Xerxes.  The remainder of Greece is now being pulled together by our new hero, Thermistocles, played by Sullivan Stapleton, in an effort to push back the invading Persians, led by anti-hero Aremisia, played by Eva Green.  None of the actors have half the charisma or talent of Gerard Butler, who himself isn't exactly DeNiro.

On the plus side.... the combat scenes are well choreographed and satisfyingly violent for this type of film.  There are more swords going through more various body parts then I can ever remember seeing.  It doesn't end with a blade going through a torso, neck, mouth, eye, or skull.  There are also more amputated limbs and severed heads then you'd expect at a KFC slaughter house.  That being said, it did seem like there were far too many scenes in slow motion.  At times it felt as though the entire movie would be shot S L O W.  There was also a shocking lack of color.  I don't think there was a hint of yellow or green in the entire film.  Even the gallons of shed blood were more dark maroon then red.  Once in a while our hero had on a dark blue cape, which did make him stand out.  I can appreciate using color to set a tone or as a vehicle to amplify the mood but this was just dark for darkness sake.

My brother-in-law, whose taste I don't typically share, but whose opinion I always respect, once told me that a voice-over narration is the lazy man's device.  Most of the plot of this film is shared by voice-over narration, thoroughly making his point.  I don't agree that it's always "wrong" but in this case....... since there was no other real plot development, it was all wrong.

In addition to there being virtually no plot development, and poor acting, there was no chemistry between any of the characters, making it impossible to care if they lived or died.  The one sex scene in the film was as close to rape as a consensual act could be.  I also found it hard to be intimidated by Eva Green's character.  She's a thin woman leading, through fear and intimidation.  Her cowering legions are a collection of sweaty muscle bound Greeks.  There are more six packs in this movie then at the local liquor store.

If all you want is combat, by all means see this film.  If you're expecting a sequel to carry on where "300" left off, you'll be sorely disappointed........ as I was.