300 Rise of an Empire

THIS! IS! SPECTACULAR!

It's been a busy week.  Even to the point where I didn't get a Trailer Tuesday in this week.  Thanks for visiting the site anyway.  I hope you got to catch up on some older reviews and maybe even saw the one for the movie I saw today: 300: Rise of an Empire.  In case you want to read that first and watch the trailers, you can check it out here.

My first review on my blog was the trailer for the new 300. That seems so long ago now and this will be the first movie that I've reviewed after first posting about the trailer.  What got me through my busy week was the anticipation of seeing this movie.  At the risk of having over-hyped it, I went to my favorite theater, got my IMAX 3-D tickets, and found the perfect seat.

From time to time, people say I'm a lot like Sheldon.

So was I disappointed?  Had I thought too much of it before seeing it?  Not at all, I say.  If you were a fan of the original 300 then I think you'll be in for a treat seeing this one.  It is part prequel, part parallel events, and part sequel to the first.  There was action, and blood, and gore, and abs.... so many abs.

The real centerpiece of the movie, as I had suspected in my earlier review, was the performance of Eva Green as Artemisia.  This was such a powerful character and every time she was on the screen she commanded your attention.  She was so dark and tactical and she absolutely smoldered throughout every scene in the movie through her smokey eye shadow.

Including while making other things smolder.

Apart of Eva Green, it was still a great movie.  Starting with the battle of Marathon 10 years before the events of 300 and much of this one, we see the death of Darius, Xerxes father, at the hands of Themistokles.  With the help of Eva Green, Xerxes assumes the throne as the god-king we know, intent on seeking her own revenge on the Greeks for the events of her early life.

It was a little more than her favorite band breaking up.

The main story focuses on the parallel story to Leonidas and the Spartans holding the Hot Gates from the initial ground landing of the Persian forces.  Much as in 300, Themistokles leads a small fleet of Athenian wooden ships against the thousands commanded by Artemisia.  Obviously, the odds are not in their favor.  Watching the battles unfold as they learn more about eachother was like watching them play chess with men's lives.  It also showed Artemisia becoming increasingly ruthless.

I can't really think of any criticism about the movie, except that at the beginning I was a little confused with the timeline.  I had to look for clues as to whether we had jumped into the present or were still telling the story closer to the battle of Marathon.  That passed quickly, however, and the rest of the timeline is pretty straightforward, even using the events from 300 as markers at times.

You should be thoroughly entertained going to see this movie.  If you have a weak stomach, maybe take a Tums first.  Or sneak in some Pepto in your pop.  It is just as graphic as the first, if not slightly moreso.  If for no other reason, you'll like it as you are captivated by the show put on by Eva Green.  I mentioned in my trailer review that you should have a half-chub, and the full movie will take you the rest of the way.

Time for the smolder... ;)