Heellloooo! Its has certain been a bit since i have done a review, but the spring movies are starting and I'm here to review. Welcome to another edition of Phil Goes to the Movies, and today I am looking at the blockbuster 300: Rise of an Empire. Now, did it deliver a great movie like the first, or did it fall flat like a set of CGI abs? Lets dive in shall we:
300 Rise of an Empire- Ok, now i was a huge fan of the first 300 movie, and i found myself quoting many lines from it. I even went out and bought a copy of it as soon as it came out on dvd. Now, when i saw there was going to be a sequel, I was really excited to see how the story would continue from the death of Leonidas. Well, the first action scene opens up, with people being slaughtered by Greek soldiers wearing blue capes this time. Ok, the coordinated fight scenes were awesome, except one thing that kept distracting the hell out of me. It was the CGI blood! Every 12 seconds, i have to see all this fake ass digital blood, and yes, I am aware they don't use real blood in movies. Now, in this case it would've been better to see something more realistic, and not this computerized crap! I mean, every attack with a sword, literally caused an explosion of blood, which looked over the top and ridiculous... pretty much ruining the moment for me!
Now for the plot, well this time we follow, Themistocles, played by Sullivan Stapleton, he's attempting to reunite Greece to fight, as one country, against Xerxes. He says together they can defeat the god king, and for all of them to stop caring about their individual wants and needs. Themistocles even stands before the council insulting them, and telling them what he plans to do with or without their assistance. Swear to christ, i have seen something like this before... now, what was it? Oh, yeah thats right, its called Braveheart, where William Wallace did the exact same freaking thing. Except when Mel Gibson did it, he had a thing called charisma, and this new leading man, Mr. Stapleton, does not.
Plus, another thing that bugged me was how they said Spartans are the strongest and fiercest of all the Greek soldiers. Ok, but these guys weren't Spartans, and the feats of physical impossibilities they demonstrated contradicted everything said in the first film. Cause, hell one guy jumps off a cliff, about 20 feet high, onto a ship slashing a guy without breaking a leg. Then all of his buddies do the same thing. Then i watch them throw Persians around like rag dolls, where some fire fighters i know, personally, who are very strong men couldn't whip fully grown men around like this. So then, all Greeks are supermen? If that's the case then why would they need to ban together if they have super human powers... aka fucking dumb!
Anyway the movie tries to link the first and second films together by events taking place the same time the legendary 300 were at the hot gates. While doing all these flashbacks about characters and such... I don't freaking know! How about just telling me a story and stop trying to lean on the first movie as a crutch. I mean, making references are one thing, but I dunno... the plot sucks, there, I said it!
Now, we have a new villain added to the mix, this bad ass woman general, whose skills with a sword are unmatched to any man alive. This female general is played by Eva Green, and she's a tyrant in her ways of achieving victory. Now, after they spent literally, the whole movie building her up to be this bad ass. I was expecting more from her, than what she did. Basically, in a nut shell, she talks a big game then has an awkward sex scene with, Themistocles, and then some bullshit sword fight later on in the film. I felt like she was forcing the idea, she's "crazy" rather than just making it appear natural. Once again, another movie created another very forgettable villain. I always push the fact that an action movie needs two things right off the bat or it fails. A charismatic hero and a villain that stands out amongst the rest. Oops, they dropped the ball on both... like I dropped money to see this film.
Final Verdict- 4/10, It was barely average at best, honestly, it didn't deliver anywhere near on the same level as the first movie. The blood effects were annoying as hell, and characters I could careless about them! Do not see this in theaters save 10 dollars, yet if you must see it... then wait until dvd or any other way to watch the film.
Well, that's it for now boys and girls, I will return with more reviews as more and more blockbusters start releasing. This is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have too!
300 Rise of an Empire- Ok, now i was a huge fan of the first 300 movie, and i found myself quoting many lines from it. I even went out and bought a copy of it as soon as it came out on dvd. Now, when i saw there was going to be a sequel, I was really excited to see how the story would continue from the death of Leonidas. Well, the first action scene opens up, with people being slaughtered by Greek soldiers wearing blue capes this time. Ok, the coordinated fight scenes were awesome, except one thing that kept distracting the hell out of me. It was the CGI blood! Every 12 seconds, i have to see all this fake ass digital blood, and yes, I am aware they don't use real blood in movies. Now, in this case it would've been better to see something more realistic, and not this computerized crap! I mean, every attack with a sword, literally caused an explosion of blood, which looked over the top and ridiculous... pretty much ruining the moment for me!
Now for the plot, well this time we follow, Themistocles, played by Sullivan Stapleton, he's attempting to reunite Greece to fight, as one country, against Xerxes. He says together they can defeat the god king, and for all of them to stop caring about their individual wants and needs. Themistocles even stands before the council insulting them, and telling them what he plans to do with or without their assistance. Swear to christ, i have seen something like this before... now, what was it? Oh, yeah thats right, its called Braveheart, where William Wallace did the exact same freaking thing. Except when Mel Gibson did it, he had a thing called charisma, and this new leading man, Mr. Stapleton, does not.
Plus, another thing that bugged me was how they said Spartans are the strongest and fiercest of all the Greek soldiers. Ok, but these guys weren't Spartans, and the feats of physical impossibilities they demonstrated contradicted everything said in the first film. Cause, hell one guy jumps off a cliff, about 20 feet high, onto a ship slashing a guy without breaking a leg. Then all of his buddies do the same thing. Then i watch them throw Persians around like rag dolls, where some fire fighters i know, personally, who are very strong men couldn't whip fully grown men around like this. So then, all Greeks are supermen? If that's the case then why would they need to ban together if they have super human powers... aka fucking dumb!
Anyway the movie tries to link the first and second films together by events taking place the same time the legendary 300 were at the hot gates. While doing all these flashbacks about characters and such... I don't freaking know! How about just telling me a story and stop trying to lean on the first movie as a crutch. I mean, making references are one thing, but I dunno... the plot sucks, there, I said it!
Now, we have a new villain added to the mix, this bad ass woman general, whose skills with a sword are unmatched to any man alive. This female general is played by Eva Green, and she's a tyrant in her ways of achieving victory. Now, after they spent literally, the whole movie building her up to be this bad ass. I was expecting more from her, than what she did. Basically, in a nut shell, she talks a big game then has an awkward sex scene with, Themistocles, and then some bullshit sword fight later on in the film. I felt like she was forcing the idea, she's "crazy" rather than just making it appear natural. Once again, another movie created another very forgettable villain. I always push the fact that an action movie needs two things right off the bat or it fails. A charismatic hero and a villain that stands out amongst the rest. Oops, they dropped the ball on both... like I dropped money to see this film.
Final Verdict- 4/10, It was barely average at best, honestly, it didn't deliver anywhere near on the same level as the first movie. The blood effects were annoying as hell, and characters I could careless about them! Do not see this in theaters save 10 dollars, yet if you must see it... then wait until dvd or any other way to watch the film.
Well, that's it for now boys and girls, I will return with more reviews as more and more blockbusters start releasing. This is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have too!
