#THE MOVIE 300 RISE OF AN EMPIRE SERIES#

Tellingly, the filmвЂ™s most substantive character beat is an oddly concocted вЂhate-fuckвЂ™ between Themistocles and Artemisia, which comes about after she attempts to bribe him to join her. Themistocles puts an arrow in XerxesвЂ™ father, but the man-turned-god plays second fiddle throughout to Artemisia, and seems less personally motivated by revenge, which gives the movie an odd, off-center sense of dramatic gravity. It may owe to the source material, but the weird redirection of conflict in Rise Of An Empire strongly contributes to its unmoored feeling. Among others reprising their roles from the first movie are Lena Headey as widowed and vengeful Spartan Queen Gorgo and David Wenham as Dilios. While Xerxes declares war, Artemisia is the one who prosecutes it, while Themistocles struggles to match her with fewer resources. DariusвЂ™ son, Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), is elevated to both a king and a god with the aid of Artemisia (Eva Green), his brutal naval commander. After Greek general Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) fells Persian King Darius (Igal Naor) in battle, it sets off a chain of revenge. Rise Of An Empire stands astride the events of 300, with events unfolding before, during and after it. International theatrical receipts should be robust and an even bigger percentage of return than for 300. Peabody & Sherman) will give the movie a leg up, holdover business from Non-Stop and impending competition from Need For Speed will cut into the filmвЂ™s hold on the imaginations and wallets of predominantly young male moviegoers.

#THE MOVIE 300 RISE OF AN EMPIRE SERIES#

Seven years is a long time to wait between series installments, and while graphic novelist Frank MillerвЂ™s fan base and Rise Of An EmpireвЂ™s lack of brawny competition this weekend (the only other wide opener in the US is FoxвЂ™s animated Mr.

It also spawned all sorts of imitators of its mesmeric, affected visual presentation, and enshrined director Snyder (who here takes a screenwriting and producing credit) at distributor Warner Bros., where he has since gone on to make Watchmen, Sucker Punch and Man Of Steel. The original 300 was one of those Hollywood self-touted game-changers that actually truly was released in March, 2007, the stylised, super-violent historical war drama broke all kinds of domestic spring box office records en route to $210 million in theaters, and pulled in another $245 million overseas. The dark-eyed Green has an easy touch with malevolence, and she makes Artemisia a worthy femme fatale, even if tongue-kissing lopped-off heads seems a bit much. With its low-angle shots, ominous thunderclaps, glistening pecs and bellowed celebrations of freedom, Rise Of An Empire peddles a very particular, fetishised form of masculine hero worship in telling the story of a concurrent naval campaign, but all in service of little more than a state-of-the-art showcase for unremitting violence. Such is the laid track that this punishingly brutal follow-up to Zack SnyderвЂ™s influential 300, which told the story of the battle of Thermopylae and a group of Spartan soldiersвЂ™ valiant but ultimately futile defense against a marauding army of Persian invaders, unfolds upon. Although you will have seen many action films set during a point of time in history (this one's set in 480 BC), there is plenty in here to keep your attention from start to finish.The third and biggest-budgeted sword-and-sandal action movie to arrive this year, 300: Rise Of An Empire unfolds in 480 BC, but it might as well be вЂњK.C.,вЂќ or Known Commodity. The film itself looks fantastic, awash in a red-sepia tone that dominates everything. Part-vamp and part-warrior princess in leather, Green is stunning as Artemisia. The blood and gore is off the scale warriors are hacked and cleaved in glorious CGI detail. Xerxes himself, looking like he has emerged from a gold bath and resplendent in various piercings, is relegated to a few booming sentences. He shows his resolve when mustering the Greek forces with lines like, 'We choose to die on our feet rather than live on our knees!' But is he immune to Artemisia's female charms or will those prove to be his Achilles heel?

Yet, he knows that each of them would have to, if need be, make the ultimate sacrifice to save 'Mother Greece'. Themistocles, although lacking the crazed blood-lust that drove Leonidas, is weary of war. Artemisia realises that she has an equal in strategy and cunning, against whom overwhelming force and superior numbers alone won't work. Indeed, the Persian navy splinters the Greek galleys, until they come up against Themistocles. Artemisia is a determined commander, who doesn't think much of her adversaries, clad in sandals and capes.

The movie 300 rise of an empire