300: Rise of an Empire

If there's one thing which can be said about 300: Rise of an Empire, it is that it shouldn't be screened in an A Level Ancient Greek revision class. Its history is, to say the least, rather suspect and will certainly do the student of Ancient Greece no favours. More fundamentally, however, it shouldn't be shown because it is absolutely rubbish.

300: Rise of an Empire developed from the cult success of Zack Snyder's 2007 film 300, a movie with distinctive comic book visuals and with a slow motion, voyeuristic fascination with spurting blood and violence. The original saw Gerard Butler shout his way through the Battle of Thermopylae and 300: Rise of an Empire takes place at the same time, albeit on the other side of the Greco-Persian wars. Snyder's film had a lot going on in it: a beguiling visual aesthetic, intense violence, a coherent narrative and a camp undertone which didn't take itself too seriously. Oh, and lots of topless men.

Its sequel/prequel retains the topless warriors but dispenses with everything else, resulting in a film which is flat, narratively garbled and rather boring. Director Noam Murro shows a fundamental lack of understanding when it comes to narrative cinema and the film appears to sleepwalk between one battle and another, interspersed with rousing speeches (often delivered by our hero Themistocles, played by the Australian Sullivan Stapleton), which are neither rousing nor engaging.

Themistocles leads the Athenian army (who, I must point out, are much less ripped than their Spartan counterparts) and Stapleton's performance is just about adequate, even if his accent does jump around as much as a gap year student. The trouble lies, however, in the film's plot – or lack of one – and whilst the action sequences may be filmed and constructed well, this amounts to little when the audience have no investment in the characters and the narrative leaves each battle sequence high and dry (slightly ironic as most of the battles take place on the sea). It is not enough to throw blood-drenched battle after blood-drenched battle at the audience and hope that they'll find it interesting. Without the crucial narrative framework, there's more excitement to be had at a bingo hall than during the 102 minutes of 300: Rise of an Empire.

Perhaps the only saving grace of this film is Eva Green, who is ravishing as the baddie Artemisia, and she really does throw herself into the role and shows herself to be more than capable of wielding a sword. The original 300 had much to say and it appears as if its sequel is attempting to do the same. In reality, however, its self-awareness is lost and it tries rather too hard to be both visceral and edgy. Half way through the film, we're treated (or should that be subjected?) to the most bizarre one-night-stand you will ever see in the cinema and the film misjudges its sexual politics to a great extent. Naked men may be plentiful but the film's male gaze is firmly directed at women: evident in the costumes in which Eva Green is placed.

300: Rise of the Empire may have the blood, violence and visuals to make it a companion piece to300, but its lack of any semblance of narrative will leave you thinking “and so what”? There's only so much shouting and inspirational speeches that one can take. The overall effect is rather anaesthetising.

Clapperboard Rating: *