300: Rise of an Empire is precisely what you’d expect for a sequel to 300; filled with blood, gore, nudity, violence, nude violence, slow motion action scenes, unapologetic historical inaccuracies, CGI…everything, and of course, pure unadulterated carnage. There are a few things done less effectively than before however; such as a less stylized setting where, while the first’s made everything have an over-the-top cinematic feeling (whether it be the landscape, color or sun lighting), its sequel’s doused in a more bleak look (replacing its lighting and vibrant red with shadows and darker blue). Rise of an Empire’s CGI also looks much cheaper than its predecessor’s did over seven years ago, especially with its use of blood; have small stabs produce large qualities in somewhat cartoonish fashion.
Its greatest flaw however, is its main character Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton); a bland, characterless replacement for King Leonidas (Gerald Butler). To empathize on that, while 300 was clearly more focused on action-entertainment than character (and by that I mean focused almost completely on action-entertainment), our main character Leonidas was at least a character with distinctive personality; filled with warrior-like energy, passion, and a dark sense of humor. Leonidas also had a fleshed out backstory that made his ruthless and distant attitude understandable and, at times, sympathetic. Themistocles on the other hand is your run-of-the-mill protagonist with little backstory, little personality, and little that distinguishes him from the rest of the soldiers besides a blue cape and main character immunity. In fact the antagonist Artemisia (Eva Green) is more a protagonist; with a complete backstory, a more distinctive personality, and appearing in the majority of scenes.
