300: Rise of an Empire - Movie Review

[tmnt]

The directing/costumes/sets etc were faithful to the original. Some beautiful shots and I don't remember there being that post 'grain' from the first here. Yes the speed-ramping is there but it seems to tone down as the movie goes on, lots of comic style blood but that's meant to be.

ACTING. David Wenham was great, he has such a unique voice, I'd like to see him more. The lead Aussie (or NZ?) dude had the usual half Aussie/half American accent we see sometimes but it seemed to go after a couple scenes and I really warmed to him, mostly after he gave a war speech or two.

Eva Green was outstanding. I am almost n e v e r convinced of a strong, tough girl role but she absolutely nailed it. She was sexy, authoritative, commanding and I believed her fight scenes. Lena Headey, was already on my few believable strong women list and she stays.

I thought the story tied in very well to the first.

One scene took me by surprise but worked I guess. You'll see.

If you loved the first 300 you'll love this.

4/5

 

[Egg Born Son]

I really enjoyed this even though it was only okay. If you liked 300 this will do the trick. Fairly faithful to the tone of the first one although altogether less convincing (comic-book-over-the-top-testosterone-overdosing-ridiculous-abs-one-man-army-wise) utilising an Athenian farmer/sculptor/poet presented the same as a warborn Spartan army of legend. I know a sequels heroes have to one up the first movie but even the Spartans fought side by side and for each other. It really stretched the credibility during most the battles as our hero continually leaves his army to go fight by himself in slow mo.

I'd say it was about 80% of the original. 300 was a really tight and focussed movie that knew exactly what it was. This one didn't. The script was a little underdone and wandered lost at times, scenes implemented specifically to tie into the first film were noteably clunky insertions; the dialogue needed to be workshopped just a little more, almost but not quite there; the acting (with the exception of both women and David Wenham) needed another 20% etc. I think in the back of their minds the makers really just wanted to make the same movie only with blue capes instead of red. But history (such as it is followed) and the source material wouldn't let them and they weren't quite sure how to do it. And they oversold the 'democracy and freedom' angle a little. That was last decades propoganda.

That isn't to say there weren't plenty of awesome scenes. In fact there were many. Some good plot twists and Eva Green's performance was standout. Aside from occasionally un-suspending my disbelief with the Athenians having to one-up the Spartans all the time, the battles were mostly good popcorn fodder. The ramped speed effect still looks cool. There were a couple of scenes that didn't plot well at all, the sex scene was stupid and in there for no other reason than contractual reasons (it's not PG so we have to have a sex scene, it's the rules). Also they didn't need to recap every tactical victory with exposition describing what you've just seen.

The soundtrack was pretty good and managed to salvage many of the weaker scenes while totally nailing the better scenes. The 3D was well implemented although outside of the big waves I don't know how much it added. Noteably the quality of the 3D closing credits animations in Frank Miller's style were appealing enough to keep me in my seat. In summary, overall it was a good popcorn flick and better than the average sequel.

 

[tmnt]

I thought the 3D was pretty good.

There were a couple of scenes that didn't plot well at all, the sex scene was stupid and in there for no other reason than contractual reasons (it's not PG so we have to have a sex scene, it's the rules).

Highlight for spoiler (couldn't get colour right, computer hang first time):
The sex scene was there for a reason. It ties to the last scene where there's that glimmer of chance she might have a small bit of good in her and our hero might not kill her and even be with her. I know a longshot but I thought that moment was absolutely there. I also thought the hero getting on the boat, swordless, to go see her was a fair stretch.

Yeah the sex scene was the surprising scene I allude to earlier. At first I was kind of wondering if it worked but then I saw boobs and well, they're ace.

 

[Stanis]

I liked it okay. It wasn't as good as the first one, no. The first ATMOS film I watched (heard). I don' know that it added much. Except it helped the score sound awesome...and big.

 

[Egg Born Son]

I thought the 3D was pretty good.

Yeah, I didn't mean to allude to that it was bad. More commenting to those that hate 3D. I usually watch in 3D in the cinema even though it rarely adds anything, more often than not it is distracting but I keep watching waiting for that movie that makes 3D a worthwhile addition to the toolbag. That movie was Gravity. It was a long wait. The decision by Cameron to avoid the 'gimmick' of having action pop out of the screen is the dumbest idea anyone in film has ever had, neutering the primary advantage of 3D and most have followed his mantra since.

At first I was kind of wondering if it worked but then I saw boobs and well, they're ace.

Never going to complain about boobs. But I can't agree that it was necessary to set up the ending scene, which in itself was the second most stupid part of the movie. There are a lot of other things that were stupid as well but they all fit the 300 ethos and are forgiven in pursuit of "over-the-top" (although less forgiven than in the first movie because they are not Spartans this time). I wouldn't be surprised if the sex scene was the result of an emergency meeting late in the production when they realised they needed something to counter the general homo-eroticism of the series (I saw the first one with a gay friend which had a definite influence on my perception of the movie!)

 

[Run&Gun]

I didn't watch the 3D version. I'm 'over it' with regards to 3D. The effect just isn't enough to justify the hassle and extra money to watch it. No theater that I've ever watched a 3D movie in compensates for the light loss of the polarized glasses, so I always find myself straining to watch the movie and it pulls me out of the moment and I'm not able to just relax and enjoy it(the whole reason I'm there with my GF spending $40+).

Yeah, I didn't mean to allude to that it was bad. More commenting to those that hate 3D. I usually watch in 3D in the cinema even though it rarely adds anything, more often than not it is distracting but I keep watching waiting for that movie that makes 3D a worthwhile addition to the toolbag. That movie was Gravity. It was a long wait. The decision by Cameron to avoid the 'gimmick' of having action pop out of the screen is the dumbest idea anyone in film has ever had, neutering the primary advantage of 3D and most have followed his mantra since.

Yes. I want to feel like stuff is flying out of the screen and I need to duck. On almost every 3D movie I've watched, I've always thought the Opening and Closing title sequences and credits were the best 3D effect in the movie. I'd probably be a lot more inclined to watch 3D movies if the effect was half as good as the $10 3D Viewmaster I had as a little kid.




Now on to the movie itself. I'm a big fan of the first one, but I definitely did not like this one as much. I did like getting some of the back story, but I just didn't feel like the lead character was anywhere nearly as strong as Leonidas. I know that it's a tall order to fill, trying to create a character as badass as Leonidas, but Themistocles just felt like a third string quarterback, in comparison. If I had gone into it, as my GF did, having never seen the first, I would have probably liked it a lot more(like she did). This was also the first time that I can think of in a long time that the VFX were distracting me from the movie and were done simply as a 'show off' or 'because we can'. The main effect that drew my ire was the 'dust particles' and/or 'burning embers' that were in EVERY shot. Even if they are just there to help immerse the 3D audience, I think they would have grown tiresome after the first five minutes.

If the first '300' was an A+, this one is a B-, at best.