Prior to300 , Zack Snyder established himself as a director with his 2004Dawn of the Deadremake . But it was Snyder ’s 2006 adaptation of Frank Miller’s300comic al-Qur’an that elevated his vocation and reserve him to go on to directWatchmen , Sucker Punch , Man of Steel , Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice , Justice League , and a clustering of direct - to - Netflixflicks . Without300 , none of those other moving-picture show would have happened .
This yr stigmatize the 10th day of remembrance of the sequel to300 , which was called300 : Rise of an Empire . Snyder co - wrote the playscript , but he step apart from the conductor ’s chair and allow Noam Murro to bring the movie to fruition eight long time after the original film . However , ascension of an Empiredidn’t get the same kind of acclaim that its herald did , and it was more of a pocket-size hit than a megahit . But now that300 : Rise of an Empireis uncommitted to rain buckets on Netflix alongside the first300movie , it ’s clock time to share the four reasons why you should watch it in September .
Sullivan Stapleton is an underrated action star
Gerard Butler did not repeat his role as King Leonidas forRise of an Empireexcept for repurposed footage from the first300 . To fill the void left by Butler , Sullivan Stapleton was cast as Themistocles , a general from Athens who attempts to cod the Hellenic forces against the invade Persian army .
Butler ’s chassis from300may dwarf Stapleton ’s , but it gives Themistocles a more relatable body and he seems like a literal underdog rather than some kind of Greek god given human var. . Stapleton has had a very under the radar action at law career , including the British seriesStrike BackandBlindspoton NBC . But he brings a existent horse sense of mankind to his take on Themistocles , as well as believable animalism when the action gets started . According to IMDB , Stapleton has n’t been in an action film since 2017’sRenegades . He really deserves more chances , establish on this movie alone .
Eva Green gives a phenomenal performance
Stapleton may get top charge , but300 : Rise of an Empireis Eva Green ’s movie . Green has seldom give a bad execution , but she ’s absolutely incredible as Artemisia , the power behind the throne for the Iranian army . It ’s almost impossible to reckon away from Green as she exudes persuasiveness and a maniacal desire for revenge against the Greeks .
The film does explore Artemisia ’s tragical backstory and gives Green some layers to dally . But for the most part , she revels in being the film ’s ultimate villain . There ’s nothing that Artemisia wo n’t do to claim triumph , and she ’s very convincingly seductive when she tries to get Themistocles on her side . This film is at long last about the conflict between them , but you may find yourself rooting for Artemisia instead of Themistocles .
The action is incredible
The first300got a lot of mileage out of its $ 65 million budget , but it ’s obvious from the scratch thatRise of an Empirehad a lot more money to sour with . The fights have a much larger scale , including battles at sea that initially go very gravely for the Greek navy . There are some stylistic flourishes that will prompt you of Snyder ’s body of work on the original movie .
But the most surprising thing in this film is that Murro might in reality be good at stag action than Snyder is . ascent of an Empire‘s battles are electrifying and soft to pursue , which is n’t something anyone can say about Snyder ’s work in300or his later work in the DCEU .
It brings the story full circle
The sequel300 : Rise of an Empirepulls off the neat illusion of fitting into the narrative of the original motion picture while adding more backstory and setting before moving beyond the events of300 . In short , it ’s a prequel , a mid - quel , and a sequel all in one movie . Only a handful of performers from300returned , includingGame of Thrones ‘ Lena Headey as Queen Gorgo , Rodrigo Santoro as King Xerxes , and Andrew Tiernan as the traitor , Ephialtes , who finally answer for his crimes .
Because of Green ’s overpower mien , Santoro ’s God - King Xerxes comes off as a less power even when we see his beginning in this film . But Headey bewilder to directly link the two movies through her interactions with Stapleton ’s Themistocles . Gorgo does n’t want to give Themistocles the aid he need even when they face a common opposition . Regardless , that stretch setup pay off later in the photographic film as the metropolis states of Greece unite . There could have perhaps been one final 300 motion-picture show , but it was n’t really necessary . Rise of an Empirehas a satisfying decision that justifies its existence as a sequel to a authoritative action pic .
Watch300 : acclivity of an EmpireonNetflix .
