Butler's head has a prominent role in this.

DAMN, Eva Green steals this movie without even trying.

Other than Eva Green's wickedly captivating, over-the-top performance, this is a pretty mundane retread of the first one. C

I thought it was pretty great. Just as entertaining as the first one (but obviously just as shallow as well...). I thought the way it was joined with 300's storyline was pretty remarkable. I hope they make a third one, set after the battles of Thermopyles and Artemisia.

8.0/10

300 RISE OF AN EMPIRE

I did not catch this in 3D and I've heard some mention it's probably worthwhile to see it in that format. Anyway, I enjoyed the film. I was entertained by it quite a bit. I liked the action sequences, the graphic visual representation of the Persian capital city, the boat sequences and the Acropolis in the background in one scene. The acting was fine. I thought the lead Greek character Themistocles did a generally good job. Eva Green was wonderful as true villain in the film. The style was kept from the first of course and that's great. It's a nice looking picture. I did feel that there was something missing to it that kept it from 300's level but it was a good film. I would love to see a continuation a completion to the series. Just make a trilogy to cap off this series would be my wish. Finally, one complaint I do have is with the digital blood. I'm not a superfan of that particular usage but would have hurt to make the blood just a bit more red rather the murky tone it has in the picture?

Grade - B

I mean... it's average at best. A lot of it just didn't work. Most of the characters were boring and I was hoping they'd die. The father/son plots were badly done.

But... Eva Green was worth it. Oh man was she worth it.

B?

300: Rise Of An Empire is simply goregeous!

It's a veritable gore ballet!.

...and I loved the fact it was barely in color at all, practically sepia toned B&W.

Story and acting were superb, but the art direction was the true ruler of this fine film.


82 out of 5.

Yeah, other than Eva Green's performance, this is a pretty average movie.

C+

This pretty much sums up my thoughts on it, though I wasn't a huge fan of the first.

Would say I prefer it slightly to the first simply because of Eva Green's deliciously commanding performance as the cold and uncompromising Artemisia. I was under her spell whenever she was on the screen. I know she's the villain, but damn if I wasn't rooting for her. The film is also very stylish. Loved the end credits. If you were a fan of the first I don't see why you'd dislike this. Felt like a worthy sequel to me.

C+

"ROCKS!" - Is a line said as a ship is in the MIDDLE of crashing into a bunch of rocks. The last word I'd use to describe the 300 series is subtle, but come onnnnnnnn. This moment perfect encapsulates the entire film: It's stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. One big heap of stupidity. And because of that reason, this somehow manages to be worse than the first film (no small feat).

On the bright side, that "rocks" moment is the film's only laugh. Sure it wasn't intentional, but fuck it, I'll take it.

(D)

The lone star is for Eva Green. She's the lone bright spot in the film, and provides it it's only energy. She deserves much better than this.

Eva Green singelhandedly propels the movie to another level. B+ based on her commanding presence alone.

300: Rise of an Empire

My, my, what a bad film. It's not only (bad) CGI overkill, but also slo-mo overkill. That's all this movie is. There's no real story or epicness to compensate for the lack of visuals this time around. The script is pretty dire and it's delivered by an unusually bad performance from Eva Green. Sullivan Stapleton is no Gerard Butler, and that was 75% of why 300 worked so well. Rise of an Empire is just an unneeded cash-grab. Such a foolish film. Xerxes is hardly in it and is relegated to a pussy. Jack O'Connell is laughable and Lena Headey is her usual wooden self. There are some cool kills and one or two strategic battle highlights, but this is a sequel that I will gladly forget soon.

D+

This was okay. Dumb fun

B-

Your review was fine, outside of this.

Eva Green was the only reason this was watchable.

And I know having read all the reviews in this thread that I am the only one that has this opinion, but really, I just cannot believe how anyone thinks she was good. That one scene where she's on the boat and the Greek farmer-spy jumps into the Aegean, she was absolutely awful, then she just spends the rest of the film overacting. But yeah, she's fucking sexy and has some gorgeous melons. So I'm not holding it against her. In A Dame to Kill For she was back in fine, fine, fine form again.

One of, if not the worst, film of 2014 I've seen thus far. Eva Green's assets may be the only thing which saves it from being the worst.