300: Rise of an Empire

Name: 300: Rise of an Empire
Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy, War
Released: March 7, 2014
Duration: 102 min
Rating: 48
Cast: Andrew Tiernan, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham, Eva Green, Hans Matheson

2014

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 780 Ratings

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6.6

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6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 780 Ratings

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300: Rise Of An Empire

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Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: March 7, 2014 | R

Starring: Andrew Tiernan, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham, Eva Green, Hans Matheson, Jack O'Connell, Lena Headey, Rodrigo Santoro, Sullivan Stapleton, Yigal Naor

Summary: The Greek general Themistocles battles an invading army of Persians led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes, and Artemisia, commander of the Persian navy.

Director: Noam Murro

Genre(s): Action, Drama, Fantasy, War

Rating: R

Runtime: 102 min

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Critic Reviews

Richard Roeper

Mar 6, 2014

Even with the uniformly good performances — and the standout work from Ms. Green — 300: Rise of an Empire is foremost a triumph of production design, costumes, brilliantly choreographed battle sequences and stunning CGI. Read full review

Stephanie Zacharek

Mar 4, 2014

Rise of an Empire might have been essentially more of the same, but for one distinction that makes it 300 times better than its predecessor: Mere mortals of Athens, Sparta, and every city from Mumbai to Minneapolis, behold the magnificent Eva Green, and tremble! Read full review

James Berardinelli

Mar 6, 2014

The lack of a creative driver behind the film leads to a level of fundamental dissatisfaction. The movie delivers all the necessary elements but their impact is dull. Read full review

Todd McCarthy

Mar 3, 2014

Other than for the pleasure of watching Green try to conquer ancient Greece dressed as a distant forebearer of Catwoman, more is less and a little late in this long-aborning sequel. Read full review

Bilge Ebiri

Mar 10, 2014

The best thing about the new 300: Rise of an Empire is that Zack Snyder didn’t direct it. And the worst thing about it is that Zack Snyder didn’t direct it. Read full review

Adam Nayman

Mar 6, 2014

By throwing herself headfirst into scenes that a more cautious actress might beg off, Green earns herself a citation for valour – a Purple Heart in a movie that’s otherwise way too grim and grey for its own good. Read full review

Film.com James Rocchi

Mar 7, 2014

The empty violence and pointless style are only the biggest problems. Read full review

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User Reviews

leonardark

Mar 7, 2014

Realmente muy buena la película, super entretenida y super espectacular, la critican por el gore, por favor y a ver una película de 300 es ir a ver sangre, batallas y sexo, que mas quieren los críticos?. Epic film.

8 of 31 users found this helpful823

FredRogers

Mar 8, 2014

One word: Badass. Much better than the first film, just forget about realism and you will be fine. The only thing i think i could question was the fact that the random sex scene was rather confusing to the actual story and portrayed a bad image of the main character.

2 of 15 users found this helpful213

Paulo_Jorge

Mar 12, 2014

300 - Rise of an Empire tells another view from his predecessor, witch shows a history before and after the predecessor 300. 300 - Rise of an Empire shows who is Zack Snyder, in visuals, animations, especial effects, photography and all others topics in the gaphics area this movie rocks,300 - Rise of an Empire tells another view from his predecessor, witch shows a history before and after the predecessor 300. 300 - Rise of an Empire shows who is Zack Snyder, in visuals, animations, especial effects, photography and all others topics in the gaphics area this movie rocks, Zack Snyder is great in combat scenes, the camera angles is just perfect, and you know exactly what is happening in the combat.

But as always, just epic scenes with bunch of combat and slow motion can't make the movie great, the History of the movie is well telled, but I think the movie needs a little bit of more explanation of the history, how everything happened, you just see a bit of history and bunch of combat scenes in a loop all the movie, witch was a little bit awkward.

Seeing by this point, as what a complete movie needs to offer you, 300 - Rise of an Empire is a 5 or 6 out 10 movie, but the objective of the movie is to impress you with the high quality action scenes, with the slow motions scenes and with the all blood, and this object the movie completes well, as a complete movie needs? No. But is a 8 out 10 movie in a lot of ways.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

PeterAlexander

Jun 15, 2015

Ridiculous, historically inaccurate, poorly written, yet throughly exciting, 300: Rise of an Empire acts as an energetically engaging theatre experience. There is no denying it is not the greatest of films and it could be thoroughly improved. The film suffers from a severe lack of characterRidiculous, historically inaccurate, poorly written, yet throughly exciting, 300: Rise of an Empire acts as an energetically engaging theatre experience. There is no denying it is not the greatest of films and it could be thoroughly improved. The film suffers from a severe lack of character development and historical accuracy. It's pure ridiculously over flashy fight sequences make for a an immersive theatre experience regardless. 300: Rise of an Empire is best enjoyed for what it is, an over the top CGI war fest, nothing more.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

evanrm

Mar 10, 2014

Rubbish film, but who knew that Eva Green had such nice breasts? At least the first film presented a plausible idea that 300 could fight off thousands in a confined space, but thousands of ships against twenty? Stupid, stupid, stupid. And while they're doing this, everyone just stands aroundRubbish film, but who knew that Eva Green had such nice breasts? At least the first film presented a plausible idea that 300 could fight off thousands in a confined space, but thousands of ships against twenty? Stupid, stupid, stupid. And while they're doing this, everyone just stands around on ships with no defences. No one fires arrows at each other; they just wait and try to ram ships.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

Colginator

Aug 26, 2015

After "300" turned out to be a surprising success, earning over $450 million at the box office on a budget of only $65 million, it did make sense to make a sequel. And with the Persian armies still roaming by the end of the film there was still potential to continue the story. But as much asAfter "300" turned out to be a surprising success, earning over $450 million at the box office on a budget of only $65 million, it did make sense to make a sequel. And with the Persian armies still roaming by the end of the film there was still potential to continue the story. But as much as "300: Rise of an Empire" tries, it's unable to recapture the same style Zack Snyder used in the first film.

Taking place partly before, partly during, and partly after the battle of "300", we follow the story Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) as he tries to hold off from the legions of Persian troops attacking from the seas through using his fleet of 50 warships to hold them back. The Persians are being led by Artemisia (Eva Green), the naval war lord who continues to hammer at him brutally and relentlessly.

It's enough plot to justify the violence but at the same time it doesn't have the same spirit that made "300" so enjoyable. There the focus was on Leonidas and his 300 Spartans prevailing against the odds at every turn to fight for what they believe in. But here, the story never brings any real purpose to the battle beyond defeating the bad guys. It really is just mindless violence, with no real purpose.

Whilst Sullivan Stapleton does look the role with the right muscular form to seem like the warrior he needs to be, he's still not able to live up to Gerard Butler's performance as Leonidas in the first film. Whilst he's decent at being the generic tough warrior performance, he can't quite live up to Butler's energetic, over the top delivery that made the line 'This is Sparta!' such an internet sensation. He doesn't even have any personality beyond being a generic action hero.

However, this film does introduce a greater villain than its predecessor. Possibly to combat some of the misogynistic elements of the original graphic novel and first film, we get an introduction to Eva Green as the Femme Fatale of the film. Whilst she's not up there with the best femme fatales like Barbara Stanwyck in "Double Indemnity", she's still the most interesting character of the film, receiving a dark back-story where she was born Greek, but defected to the Persian armies after her family is murdered. Not only is she a deadly warrior, but also is incredibly smart and knows how to use her sexuality as a weapon.

When it comes down to it the most important part of the film are its action sequences. And unfortunately this is really where the film falls short. Whilst it does try to copy the graphic novel look that Snyder went for the first film, it's far less successful here. The cool dark visuals used in the first film are replaced here with some weak murky visuals that end up looking less like a graphic novel and more like a video game.

It's director Murro also lacks the same directorial vision that made the battle's in Snyder's 300 so memorable. Many of his shots stick in mind due to their detail and execution with shot's like pushing the Persians off the cliff really sticking in memory. But even after just watching Rise of an Empire, it's tough to remember a single shot because it's all the action just blends together. Because of lacking any real memorability, anyone would be better off re-watching the first 300 than watching this disappointment of a sequel.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Larz

Nov 30, 2014

This movie was so bad that it inspired me to make a Metacritic account and post my first review. Why do I think it's so horrible? It's unrealistic and cheesy, putting CGI graphics over acting, plot, realism or historical accuracy. Here's my short list of pet peeves: 1) script is writtenThis movie was so bad that it inspired me to make a Metacritic account and post my first review. Why do I think it's so horrible? It's unrealistic and cheesy, putting CGI graphics over acting, plot, realism or historical accuracy. Here's my short list of pet peeves: 1) script is written on clichés and racial stereotypes. 2) Unrealistic costumes. Every Greek soldier has 6 pack abs and has armor covering arms and shoulders, but leaving the vital areas of chest and abdomen exposed. Beyond absurd. 3) Unrealistic battle. Every time a sword or arrow hits someone, a quart of blood comes flying off of the person, splattering out the front of them, the back of them and splattering the camera, all the while using slow motion to emphasize how unrealistic the action is. 4) Unrealistic military strategies that would get an army wiped out. 5) Portrayal of the main antagonist, a 120 lb woman as being physically stronger, faster and more skilled in armed combat than the best Greek warriors. 6) Awesome CGI rendered action scenes that look ridiculous because the physics don't match up.... Oar powered ships doing 10-15 knots, moving faster through the water than the oars are moving. Storm scene in the Aegean/Mediterranean with a fleet of ships surfing down a 60 foot wall of long ocean swells, which physically can't happen due to the shallow depth and small width of the sea. Ocean surfaces rendered with water in a non-gravity dependent fashion with areas of high and low elevation that are not related to waves. Cooking oil is used as an incendiary device, but then they show it exploding with the force of dynamite. Sorry, oil burns, it doesn't explode. I could go list a dozen more fake things about this movie, but it's not worth my time. :-)… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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