300: Rise of an Empire

I was thinking, why does it make sense to continue something that is closed and stands perfectly on its own? The intentions are obviously purely commercial, which is evident in the story itself, which forcibly tries to fit into the events of the first film and succeeds in avoiding most of the characters from the first film. It doesn't change the fact that it's just flashy masturbation over the modern concept of action, which is indeed brutal, but that's still not enough, right? Some percentage for a naked Eva Green. That view is worth it. (17/08/2014)

Compared to the first one, there is more emphasis on the story, the exteriors are more varied and the "red" action at times tries to give the impression of real battle strategy, which I consider a good step in contrast to the monotonous chopping and endless slow-motion of Snyder (although this one has too much slow-motion, too). However, the only thing that elevates this cool, visually messy parade of abs and heroic platitudes slightly above the level of the first one is the head-cutting, eye-murdering, hard-fucking but outrageously attractive and sexy Eva Green, who endows her role with such charisma that Leonidas would quickly stick his head in the sand in front of her. For her sake, I not only throw in an extra star, but even declare the second 300 a very, very enjoyable and exciting waste of time. 55% (22/03/2014)

In some ways worse, in some ways better than the first film, but in the end still a good show. The protagonist may not be as charismatic as Leonidas, but he is interestingly portrayed as a sophisticated strategist who also makes mistakes. I liked the fights and battle scenes perhaps more than in 300, especially the opening one in the storm with slow motion lightning was breathtaking, Eva Green played the very erratic wild woman excellently and the whole thing went by pleasantly. Frank Miller's comic hasn't been published in Czech yet, so unlike the previous film, we don't have a chance to compare how much the writers, director and designers were inspired by it, but I liked the fact that the film didn't feel like a repetition of what had worked before, but came up with a number of new things. (19/07/2015)

A more than decent encore to the slaughter at Thermopylae. Less testosterone, more tactics, tricks and women. which makes the sequel much more diverse to watch. Eva Green steals the show, mainly because Stapleton simply doesn’t have the same charisma as Butler, and he knows it, and that’s why his character is craftier and, more than strength, he radiates intelligence. Xerxes, who initially was meant to be the mainstay of the movie, surprisingly appears somewhere toward the back, but Rodrigo still really enjoys his most famous role. A well-justified (what’s the word?) sidequel, that works even without the original 300. (07/03/2014)

A highly spectacular, comic-book-like bloody football match with an irresistible animalistic sex scene at half-time (which turned me on) and a subsequent poetic statement in the climax (which brought me to my knees). Praise goes to the film’s creators for the opulent conception of a sequel as a massive tune-up of the first instalment, which now seems modest in comparison. (03/04/2014)