300: Rise Of An Empire (7/10)

It's always a risk to do a sequel after so many years since the original, and in this case, it's 8 years.

And what a risk too to get an unknown director like Noam Murro to deliver this movie that's going to be judged and compared to the original. But for the most part, Murro delivered.

What I didn't like was the delivery of the humour. I thought none of those few attempts really worked even though they were just light humour. Murro's eye in the detail of the story progression didn't work too well too. Unlike 300 which everyone knew what it was about and how it was going to go down, there's a learning curve as to what was going on especially on the timeline as compared to the first one. Those who didn't catch the original would probably be a little confused with the timeline. And on top of that, Murro was heavy with narrative and how time passes wasn't given any emphasis at all. For me, it was a little difficult figuring out how man hours has passed or if it was the next day already.

The blood splatters were not impressive this time around. Not sure why they made the blood so thick this time so it wasn't realistic at all. I thought all the gore and violence had no artistic value in this one because in 300, even when it was violent, it retained some form of grace and style that made the visual that much more pleasing and interesting. This one had its characters slash and cut away with not much choreography involved.

Also there were a lot of slow motion employed. That worked wonders with Zack Snyder's direction in 300 but here, it didn't have that originality as it was more like copying the previous movie, or included just because the first one had it.

Lastly, I wanted to see Lena Headey kick some ass. But she was so disappointing when she finally wielded a sword.

Now for the praises. And I have to start with none other than...

Eva Green. The ruthless and tough-as-nails personality cannot be done any better than what Green had portrayed. Her determination to seek vengeance in the most blood-thirsty manner came through from her every body language and was most expressed through her icy cold stares. She carried the whole movie herself and was the best part in it. When she's on screen, she commands your attention. Beautiful and scary at the same time.

The other main lead, Sullivan Stapleton didn't stand a chance against Green. But in this case, I didn't care. He didn't need to steal focus away, he's there to accommodate the story and play his part. Green was more than enough.

The action sequences were satisfactory. Plenty of action balanced between the aspect of storytelling to drive progression. CGI was just as beautiful in creating this world. And the soundtrack added to the intensity of the action.

I would watch this again despite the flaws mentioned. Eva Green's performance would not be soon forgotten and I would rather relive it again sooner than later.