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| 300: Rise of an Empire Poster |
Director: Noam Murro
Screenwriter/s: Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad
Length: 102 minutes
Year of Release: 2014
300: Rise of an Empire a film directed by Noam Murro, and stars Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green and Lena Headey. It is a sequel to one of the more quotable war films of the past decade, 300, and takes place before, during and after the events that took place in 300. Sullivan Stapleton's character, Themistocles, leads his fellow Athenian men into a war with the Persian leader Xerxes, and his right hand woman, Artemsia.
300 is one of the most badass films you should ever have the pleasure of watching. It's was Zack Snyder's attempt at defining a genre, and he did that pretty damn well convincingly. This sequel is undoubtedly questionable, and at first seems unnecessary, after the success of the previous film; on the Rotten Tomatoes consensus, 300 just made it in with a positive rating (60%), and will forever be remembered as one of the best action films from the 2000's, not necessarily because it's smart and intriguing, like, say, The Dark Knight, but because of it's quotability and near perfect action. The use of slow motion hadn't been utilized in every Roman Empire styled action film prior to 2006 and 300's release, so at that point in time, you felt like it was a stylistic statement made by Snyder, instead of an overused feature. 300 helped this genre in film along by miles, and now films like 300 are popping up all over the place; just this year, we had a 300 wannabe in The Legend of Hercules, one of the worst films I've ever seen. It's use of slow motion during the action scenes was clumsy and poorly done, to say the least, and the CGI was all atrocious. Almost in answer, Snyder and Kurt Johnstad responded with 300: Rise of an Empire, a film that chronicles before, during and after the events of the previous film. We have a new director this time around in Noam Murro, a man whom I've never heard of before, unfortunately. Well, here's the introduction I was requiring! I can almost picture Snyder inviting Renny Harlin, director of The Legend of Hercules, to a private screening, just to show him how it's done, how to make a film like this work. Because despite 300: Rise of an Empire's faults, it's a damn awesome film!
