300 - Rise of an Empire (2014)

It is never easy to be the follow-up to a film that, whilst not necessarily being a masterpiece, still is a pretty cool and entertaining act. And try as you might to recreate the feeling and look of the original, you will always be the second in line and therefore regarded as inferior. That is pretty much what happened to this one, even though as a standalone film, it is rather enjoyable. Just too bad that the first one was better.

There are several reasons why the first one feels like the better film, but you can not say that the makers of this one didn't try their very best to keep the spirit and look of the original, because they did. Oh, how they did. They are to be commended on this, because this one also was released a couple of years after the original, so you might have expected them to try something new. They didn't, which is why this one feels closely linked to the first.

'Rise of an Empire' focuses on the Athenians this time instead of the Spartans. That also explains why the main colour of the film is blue this time instead of red. Historically, this makes sense, as red was in fact the colour for the Spartans and blue for the Athenians. It also fits in with the nautical theme this time around, as this has mainly to do with naval battles. Once again, it is all larger than life, befitting a comic book and even though you know probably ninety percent of everything you see on screen is CG, it still looks impressive. The recurring slow motion doesn't yet feel bloated or overdone and what they did do is upped the blood and guts. That might be hard to believe, but I'm fairly confident this film is a lot bloodier and gorier than the first one, so no complaints there.

If there is one thing this film unfortunately suffers, it is in the main character of Themistokles. On his own, actor Sullivan Stapleton does a great job, but he has some big boots to fill in the shape of Gerard Butler, who played Leonidas in the first. It is a real shame that Stapleton has neither the commanding presence or the buff physique of his predecessor. Again, not really his fault, but it is a damn shame, nevertheless. He is written to be more of a flawed character, who has more self doubt and that was a nice try, but it doesn't work that well in a comic book film. Xerxes also becomes more of a spoiled little brat and his backstory downplays his grandeur and godlike persona a lot, a little like what happened to Darth Vader in the prequels (not a good thing, in case you're wondering). I also have some problems with Eva Green as the main antagonist Artemisia. I get that she is supposed to be all evil, but she is also supposed to be this great commander. Nothing ever shows that she is, she just comes across as a callous bitch with no real depth. The fact that she is hamming it up all the way to eleven doesn't help either.

'Rise of an Empire' is an enjoyable action romp, but nothing more, unfortunately. Maybe they never should have done a sequel to '300', because in that one, everything clicks and works in all its over-the-top-ness. This one feels a little bland in the end, which is a true shame.