"Better we show them, we chose to die on our feet, rather than live on our knees!"
-- Themistocles, 300: Rise of an Empire
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| Legonidas 3-8-14 |
Queen Gorgo:
"Leonidas is dead ..."
Themistocles:
"Then avenge him!"
-- 300: Rise of an Empire
I love the movie 300, the story of how Spartan warrior Leonidas led an army of only 300 soldiers to take on hordes of Persians and their narcissistic, golden god-king, Xerxes.
When trailers for the sequel, 300: Rise of an Empire began running in theaters several months ago, I marked March 7th on my calendar and eagerly awaited opening day. I wanted to see it while it was still hot and fresh.
We chose a 4 p.m. matinee and got there plenty early to beat the Friday crowds, but as it turned out, we had the theater almost blissfully to ourselves. I love it when that happens.
This sequel takes a unique approach. Instead of telling what happened after the first film, it is the story of what happened during it -- the events that took place simultaneously on the Greek side of things as they battled the Persians at sea, fighting for democracy and freedom. You also get to find out how Xerxes became Xerxes.
Even though I missed Gerard Butler as Leonidas, everyone else is back along with some new faces, particularly Eva Green as an uber angry, uber sexy Greek-turned-Persian naval commander Artemisia, whose sole purpose in life is to kill every Greek male on the planet in revenge for how her former countrymen mistreated her as a child. Nothing makes a better villain than a justifiably pissed off hot girl with a huge chip on her shoulder and an entire Persian navy at her command.
Expect more of the highly stylized bloodshed and graphic novel-esque violence as the first film, but with blue capes, and ships!
I'm usually leery of sequels. They rarely measure up to their originals. I definitely liked the original 300 better, but as sequels go, this one was pretty darned entertaining. (Plus, we went out for Vietnamese food after the show and I had one of the best bowls of vegetable soup I've ever eaten).
Soup and a movie. Weird, I know. But good.
