Release Date: 03/07/2014
Greek general Themistokles leads the charge against invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes and Artemisia, vengeful commander of the Persian navy.
Throw away your initial skepticism, because the history is there for this movie to play (fast and loose like the original) with. There was a naval engagement fought concurrent with the Battle of Thermopylae (the historical basis for the original 300), called the Battle of Artemisium that this movie will follow. Don't worry, any mention of historical accuracy or inspiration for these movies is said with tongue firmly planted in cheek. That said, the claims of racism lobbed at the first movie were more than a little unjustified. I don't think anyone was expecting a history lesson in that movie, nor did it form or change opinions about cultures with its hyper-stylized, slo-mo action. So with the political and historical discussion out of the way, where do we stand from a sheer entertainment standpoint? Well it's a sequel to a proven action movie that brings back at least a small element of the original cast and crew, so there's reason to hope. The problem is, it's easy to say the first part of that sentence condescendingly, replace "at least" with "only" and watch it become a reason to worry.
A lot of this will come down to how competent Noam Murro is in his direction. A commercial director whose only previous feature-film effort was Smart People (a dime-a-dozen indie romance with a 50% rating over at Rotten Tomatoes; I'm not suggesting you watch it) back in 2008. 6 years ago, Hollywood got a look at what this guy had to offer in a cookie-cutter movie and told him "Don't quit your day job." So let me get this right, we weren't happy with how he drove the Pinto, so we're handing him the keys to the Porsche?!
The Porsche analogy is apt when you take a look at the potential. Eva Green plays Artemisia, a Greek naval commander for Xerxes, since she was born in the Persian satrap of Halicarnassus. The character name was actually used incorrectly in a lot of press when the movie was titled 300: Battle of Artemisium (easy to see where the misunderstanding originated). She will also be the trusted advisor of Xerxes, who will take a much more pivotal role in this movie (the movie also going by the title Xerxes at one point... it had a lot of names). So with Xerxes and a Greek woman more or less turning on her own people, you have compelling antagonists aplenty, something a lot of movies struggle to have one of. Sullivan Stapleton plays Themistocles, a man historically considered to be the savior of Greece in the conflict these movies revolve around. Later in his life he would go on to actually serve as a Persian governor once the Greeks turned on him (Ancient Greece was basically a really classy soap opera and it amazes me that more movies don't focus on it). The meek history lesson aside, Sullivan is a relative newcomer with some British TV and film in his career, but nothing on this level. It's too bad Joel Edgerton had to back out of the role as his involvement would've really solidified the cast.
You'll have all the abs and slo-mo and washed out color palettes of the original (though the blue of the trailer is a stark contrast to anything I remember from the original). I say that with only mild disdain as 300 had a style all its own (Immortals was enjoyable, but felt like an imitation throughout), and uniqueness is in short supply in Hollywood. That visual style should be able to carry the movie if it flounders in comparison to its predecessor, and keep the floor of the movie at the relatively low 2 stars I'm predicting.
I'm leaning towards the worst-case scenario on this one, if only because it's much more likely that a weak cast and crew will ruin a solid premise than the trappings of a great movie will elevate mediocre talent. While I would love to be wrong on this one, there are just too many red flags. The graphic novel will be released after the movie instead of the other way around like the first one, the cast and crew are weaker, and it feels more like a shameless cash-grab than the meme-generating phenomenon of the original.
A lot of this will come down to how competent Noam Murro is in his direction. A commercial director whose only previous feature-film effort was Smart People (a dime-a-dozen indie romance with a 50% rating over at Rotten Tomatoes; I'm not suggesting you watch it) back in 2008. 6 years ago, Hollywood got a look at what this guy had to offer in a cookie-cutter movie and told him "Don't quit your day job." So let me get this right, we weren't happy with how he drove the Pinto, so we're handing him the keys to the Porsche?!
The Porsche analogy is apt when you take a look at the potential. Eva Green plays Artemisia, a Greek naval commander for Xerxes, since she was born in the Persian satrap of Halicarnassus. The character name was actually used incorrectly in a lot of press when the movie was titled 300: Battle of Artemisium (easy to see where the misunderstanding originated). She will also be the trusted advisor of Xerxes, who will take a much more pivotal role in this movie (the movie also going by the title Xerxes at one point... it had a lot of names). So with Xerxes and a Greek woman more or less turning on her own people, you have compelling antagonists aplenty, something a lot of movies struggle to have one of. Sullivan Stapleton plays Themistocles, a man historically considered to be the savior of Greece in the conflict these movies revolve around. Later in his life he would go on to actually serve as a Persian governor once the Greeks turned on him (Ancient Greece was basically a really classy soap opera and it amazes me that more movies don't focus on it). The meek history lesson aside, Sullivan is a relative newcomer with some British TV and film in his career, but nothing on this level. It's too bad Joel Edgerton had to back out of the role as his involvement would've really solidified the cast.
You'll have all the abs and slo-mo and washed out color palettes of the original (though the blue of the trailer is a stark contrast to anything I remember from the original). I say that with only mild disdain as 300 had a style all its own (Immortals was enjoyable, but felt like an imitation throughout), and uniqueness is in short supply in Hollywood. That visual style should be able to carry the movie if it flounders in comparison to its predecessor, and keep the floor of the movie at the relatively low 2 stars I'm predicting.
I'm leaning towards the worst-case scenario on this one, if only because it's much more likely that a weak cast and crew will ruin a solid premise than the trappings of a great movie will elevate mediocre talent. While I would love to be wrong on this one, there are just too many red flags. The graphic novel will be released after the movie instead of the other way around like the first one, the cast and crew are weaker, and it feels more like a shameless cash-grab than the meme-generating phenomenon of the original.