Between its record-breaking success at the box office and spawning years' worth of "This is Sparta!" parodies, "300" managed to capture the pop culture zeitgeist in 2007 in a way that few films could. While director Zack Snyder's adaptation of Frank Miller's 1998 comic series was a visually arresting and hyper-stylized reimagining of the Battle of Thermopylae, the film was largely an exercise in style over substance. The original film's ending made it clear that the fall of Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and his 300 Spartans would be the catalyst inspiring Greece to unite, with the obvious conclusion being that the Persian invaders are eventually repelled. Yet, like a moth to a flame, Hollywood couldn't resist another attempt at trying to strike gold, so, arriving seven years later is "300: Rise of an Empire," a sequel that manages to squander any goodwill remaining from the original film.
"Rise of an Empire" functions as part-prequel and part-sequel to the original, yet most of the action occurs at the same time as the events of the first film. While Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) is leading his army against Leonidas and the Spartans, much of "Rise of an Empire" occurs concurrently with Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) of Athens leading a fleet in the Aegean Sea to stave off the invading Persian fleet under the command of Artemisia (Eva Green). Most of the plot details take a backseat to the visuals, but the film also attempts to weave in elements of Athenian democracy and political aspects of uniting Greece. "Attempt" is the appropriate word here; the film's script tosses out buzzwords like "democracy" and "freedom" frequently, perhaps in an effort to add some political underpinnings to the action, yet handles them with the same level of sophistication as a middle school report on Greek democracy.
Despite the film's vague attempts at trying to differentiate itself, one can't help but feel that "Rise of an Empire" is essentially following the exploits of the B-list characters in the "300" universe. The movie contributes to this effect by sneaking in a few clips of the first film. While the scenes are added for building context, they remind the audience that its watching auxiliary characters while the interesting action is happening off-screen (and also that Michael Fassbender has moved on to bigger and better things since the original). While a few characters from "300" return - like Lena Headey's Queen Gorgo - most of this new set of Greek heroes are bland and devoid of anything resembling characterization, with much of the dialogue consisting of shouts or pre-battle inspirational speeches. The film's generic feel is only furthered by cast members approaching the material like a Shakespearean drama, adding little fun to the proceedings. By far, the only interesting character is Green as the antagonist, and mainly because she realizes the only way to deliver phrases like "eyes that had the stink of destiny" is to fully embrace the ridiculousness and go for broke.
Even though "Rise of an Empire" tries to pretend it's different from "300," the sequel is essentially a carbon copy of the original. Highly stylized computer-generated imagery and visuals that resemble a comic book? Check. Gratuitous violence and dismemberment in a variety of ways (along with digital blood that resembles jelly)? Check. Slow-motion shots in excessive action scenes? Double check. The sequel's main change is that much of the action takes place on the sea with naval warfare, yet this boils down mainly to ships crashing into each other (in slow motion, of course), and the novelty of this aquatic version of bumper cars quickly wears off. What helped make "300" a success was the fresh and inventive nature of its visuals, and copying them seven years later without any real change is hardly a recipe for success.
Of course, it's in the nature of a sequel to not deviate too far from what made the original a hit, and the main fault of "Rise of an Empire" is not its utter devotion to the visual palette of the first film. Instead, it is the fact that the film - just hoping to coast to success on the original's popularity - offers nothing new or even remotely interesting. It is simply content to ride the coattails of "300." While this could be said about many sequels, it is rarely as readily apparent as it is here. And if the film's box office success this recent weekend proves anything, it's that studios will continue to offer hollow sequels like "300: Rise of an Empire" and not deviate from this franchise pattern any time soon.
