’300: Rise of an Empire’ Review: Villains and Women Rule

“300” was a surprise hit that established director Zack Snyder as a powerful, visual storyteller, and Gerard Buttler as a strong leading man. The adaptation was so faithful to the Frank Miller graphic novel that the movie didn’t lead itself to a sequel: The heroes die, the main villain lives, and a voice-over narrator let us know that everything worked out at the end.

Then, Miller announced that a new book called “Xerxes” was going to be published (one that we are still waiting to see) and later plans for a film based on it was confirmed by Warner Bros. But after a few reports the big question remained: Was this going to be a prequel or a sequel to Leonidas’ sacrifice?

Well, the answer is ‘both.’ “300: Rise of an Empire” is a unique installment in a franchise (some people call it “a sidequel”): It explores what happened before, during and after the events of the the original. That is tricky. But the jumps in the timeline never affect the pace or become confusing.

The most interest thing regarding those narrative tools is that the goal isn’t to tell you more about Leonidas or this story’s hero,Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton), but to focus on the villains. We learn how Xerxes becomes a gigantic god king (and how Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro really looks like) and Artemisia’s rise (the gorgeous Eva Green) from Greek slave to commanding the Persian navy.

With this film, Disney’s “Maleficient”, Sony’s “Sinister Six”, and more upcoming villain-centered projects are proof that Hollywood has acknowledged that bad guys deserved a chance to be on the spotlight. Actors that play villains have more fun because they can say and do the most outrageous things and audiences love to hate their on-screen personas.

“300: Rise of an Empire” gives their baddies enough time to show their origin stories, how their minds work, some conflict between themselves and, in Artemisia’s case, a very satisfactory final confrontation with the good guy. Themistokles and his band of brothers, in the other hand, are boring light versions of Spartans.

We have seen before the female killing machine (Terminator 3) and the cruel mastermind (Snow White and the Huntsman) but this woman is both muscle and brain. The hipnotic Eva Green portrays her with such ferocity and delicious evilness that she elevates an already cool character into iconic status.

After one of the most testosterone heavy action flicks in history, centering the sequel around a female foe (that’s more driven and intelligent than the original’s villain) and including an equally strong Queen Gorgo (Lena Heady) at the front of the Spartan troops was just genius. Producer Zack Snyder gets a lot of criticism for how women are objectivized in his films, but this time he and his team deserve a “Bravo!”.

“300: Rise of an Empire” is a phenomenal feast for the senses that must be experienced in the biggest, most 3D-ish (is that a word?) way possible. The battles at sea take advantage of the latest visual effects technology to create sequences that are both beautiful and brutal. Add to the mix many creative kills and some nudity and you end up with refreshingly adult blockbuster.

“300: Rise of an Empire” is in theaters now.