Read Negative User Reviews for 300: Rise of an Empire

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leaveitOct 6, 2014

An obviously fabricated sequel to Frank Miller's 300 movie, even despite the obvious anti-brown-people message. Eva Green's character is a highly fictionalized third wave feminist; the actual person Artemisia was a Turkish queen whoAn obviously fabricated sequel to Frank Miller's 300 movie, even despite the obvious anti-brown-people message. Eva Green's character is a highly fictionalized third wave feminist; the actual person Artemisia was a Turkish queen who acknowledged that men were physically stronger than women and faced tactics and battle with the earnestness that it required to form a proper (and correct) opinion that the Battle of Salamis was futile - she did not walk around with imaginary lat syndrome fighting trained warriors with her 8-inch arms, making James Bond bad guy faces, she was hardly Greek in the sense that the Athenians were Greek, she wasn't some kind of sex fiend, and she didn't inspire fear in her men, either. The Greek people themselves were hairy and swarthy, not steroided anglo-saxons with shaved and greased up bodies. The story fails to depict that the Persian empire was something more than just a bunch of war mongers and (essentially) Islamic militants despite the battle taking place in the 5th century BC. A farce of a film, with a story that basically amounts to "let's go kill those guys!" and featuring misplaced woman power, roided out Scottish extras, extreme anachronism, even greater than Frank Miller would dare, marketed toward 10-25-year-old men who still go out to see things like the Transformers and TMNT movies.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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1

thegeekdiverMar 15, 2014

Such a horribly written script! movie cliches one after another mixed with overly done slow mode fight scenes. The color saturation was so badly done that it made the actors look horrible! The diversion from historical events were alsoSuch a horribly written script! movie cliches one after another mixed with overly done slow mode fight scenes. The color saturation was so badly done that it made the actors look horrible! The diversion from historical events were also annoying, not that I planned to see an accurate re-telling, it was laughable how sad.… Expand

7 of 8 users found this helpful71

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LXQUICKJUSTICEAug 12, 2014

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. You know that movie you like? And then that sequel that comes out and ruins it? Well, this is that movie! I never loved 300, but it's super macho killing was moderately interesting whenThis review contains spoilers, click expand to view. You know that movie you like? And then that sequel that comes out and ruins it? Well, this is that movie! I never loved 300, but it's super macho killing was moderately interesting when watched either drunk or stoned, but rise of an empire basically comes along and takes a huge dump on it. *Spoilers ahead *

Okay... Get this... According to this movie, you know that Xerxes god character? Well he has this sister right... And she's totally the brains of the operation and 100% manipulated everything that happened in movie 1 because... She's... Ugh... Female I guess... And it's only %10,000 unrealistic for a bunch of arab men to follow a woman into battle in ancient times, but WHATEVER, it's a movie... But... This whole flick is about her failed attempts to look arousing while smirking from ear to ear and it culminates in her telling off Xerxes really big to "Go sit on your golden throne and enjoy the safety my army provides you." If the makers of this film had any sort of respect for the 1st movie, they wouldn't reduce Xerxes to such a pathetic character, I mean, he already basically lost in movie 1, and now we're supposed to believe he can't even run his own army? What's left? Will the 3rd 300 movie feature a distant cousin who totally manipulated Xerxes, his sister and all of humanity into a war while leisurely eating grapes in a distant land? Makes about as much sense as this crap. I enjoyed the movie for a while but little sis running the show and her 13 foot brother being a weakling got old really fast. After she told him off, I didn't even bother watching the final battle. What for? I did jump ahead a little and saw Leonidas' queen charging the enemy, and instantly felt good about my decision to skip the last 25 minutes... It was bad.… Expand

5 of 6 users found this helpful51

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NoxiousMar 23, 2014

The only thing I find myself thinking when I see a movie like this and then arrive @ metacritic, is what on Earth these people are thinking who give it a positive score. I wish I could be in their head for just an hour, just to see how trulyThe only thing I find myself thinking when I see a movie like this and then arrive @ metacritic, is what on Earth these people are thinking who give it a positive score. I wish I could be in their head for just an hour, just to see how truly stupid these people are.… Expand

9 of 11 users found this helpful92

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2

sortapunditMar 26, 2014

I had to give up on this one somewhere around the halfway point. Maybe something interesting happens after the one hour mark, but I wasn't willing to stick it out.

To be fair I found the original more than a little underwhelming, so I'mI had to give up on this one somewhere around the halfway point. Maybe something interesting happens after the one hour mark, but I wasn't willing to stick it out.

To be fair I found the original more than a little underwhelming, so I'm probably not in the target demographic, but I was hoping that the sequel might provide at least a little entertainment value. Unfortunately it seems to be little more than a group of interchangeable bearded men in good shape dancing around a sprinkler system spraying far too much CGI blood. If you like that sort of thing you'll probably eat it up, but I'm sure there are already more than a few 'adult' websites that cater to that fetish.

P.S. It's probably time to retire the technique of slllooooowwwiiing the action down before speedingitupastheswordstrikes.… Expand

4 of 5 users found this helpful41

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3

Jonb2000Mar 7, 2014

Saw this movie last night in 2-D. My first issue was that the blood effect look cheesy but perhaps in 3-D may have looked better. Eva Green was awesome but the leading man sucked. Wasn't buying the story because they had these regularSaw this movie last night in 2-D. My first issue was that the blood effect look cheesy but perhaps in 3-D may have looked better. Eva Green was awesome but the leading man sucked. Wasn't buying the story because they had these regular soldiers able to take on the immortals like they were nothing. Absolutely loved the first 300 but this 300 I walked away disappointed and bored.… Expand

10 of 14 users found this helpful104

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donnelbrApr 9, 2014

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This film is aimed at making Americans (analogous to the Greeks, westerners) feel good about themselves. It takes what was a wonderful history (read Herodotus Books 6-9), and uses it to create a cartoon - a caricature of what the producers think will be a more appealing story, but is yet inferior to the real one. I would much rather have seen thousands of Spartan warriors (among the rest of the Greeks) fighting at Plataea than seen Spartans coming to save the day at Salamis IN BOATS! That's insane. Both the Greek naval victory at Salamis (led by the Athenians), and the Greek land victory at Plataea (led by the Spartans) individually make better stories. I feel sick just writing about it. It's an indictment the creators of this film are making of the audience - that we are idiots, and they are correct in that assessment.… Expand

4 of 6 users found this helpful42

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1

ConorHatApr 4, 2014

This is an example of a film that should never make it past the drawing board. Its vapid and pointless story drags on from one CGI scene to the other, until it finally ends. Thank goodness, now I can go home and play some video games becauseThis is an example of a film that should never make it past the drawing board. Its vapid and pointless story drags on from one CGI scene to the other, until it finally ends. Thank goodness, now I can go home and play some video games because the movies today aren't doing it for me anymore.… Expand

4 of 6 users found this helpful42

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3

jojojumpyMar 12, 2014

I waited the whole movie for a movie to start. It never did. The story is nonexistent, unclear, and inconsequential. The whole thing piggybacks on your remembrance of the first movie. It's not bad, just sort of empty. Plays it safe

4 of 6 users found this helpful42

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moviejunkie101Mar 13, 2014

Totally Forgettable. Too much cliche scenes and very weak story makes this sequel one of the worst I have ever seen. Amazing how the trailer could be so deceiving. Don't waste your money!

13 of 20 users found this helpful137

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duman5506Mar 26, 2014

Stupid film. Which nation is the good one?? The one who killed a family and raped the little girl or the one who saved the girl??? The cast is awful except Eva Green...

6 of 10 users found this helpful64

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3

YossGoldJul 3, 2014

Ugh! Down right awful!

(I decided to put as much into this review as the writers and actors, barring Eva Green who's always on point, put into this movie).

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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3

FaranApr 22, 2014

What was I didn't understand what was director and the movie maker was doing there. Movie was complete failure after a great first movie we were expecting something greater but it was disappointing. And cast was not right.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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1

RedOctoberMar 9, 2014

Disjointed mess. Way too much CG blood. Reality suspension aside, the effects were terrible.
Just a poor attempt to play the 'stylish cinematography' while over saturating poorly constructed fight scenes.

Weak sauce.

6 of 13 users found this helpful67

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MangulwortApr 5, 2014

Foul, racist American propaganda painting the great and enlightened Persian empire as a bunch of savages. The "suicide bomber" was particularly sickening.

4 of 10 users found this helpful46

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epicmoviehuntSep 22, 2014

I read a lot of the other comments and I'll borrow the highlights that matched how I feel most closely.
Foul, racist American propaganda painting the great and enlightened Persian empire as a bunch of savages. The "suicide bomber" wasI read a lot of the other comments and I'll borrow the highlights that matched how I feel most closely.
Foul, racist American propaganda painting the great and enlightened Persian empire as a bunch of savages. The "suicide bomber" was particularly sickening. Spot on with this comment. This is an example of a film that should never make it past the drawing board. (another pretty close feeling to what I had watching it). Ugh! Down right awful! (short but to the point). If they changed eva green's character to a male character and tweaked the story i mean a lot it would have a shot. (this is closest though to how I really felt). In what world are people stupid enough to watch these chicks lead armies fighting with the men. At on point the queen raises a sword, and all it's missing is her screaming VAGINA POWER!! with like a rainbow or something, that's the only way I could have thought to make this movie any worse and honestly it may have made me laugh so that could have even been an improvement. The only thing I'll take away from this movie other then my head hung low, will be to know that if I ever lead a country that's a huge world power with 10's of thousands of ships maybe I shouldn't let an 80 pound slave ship slut have complete control of them. It a strange situation to be at the end of a movie hoping that the guy beats the girls azz in moral combat. I'd say more but I feel I've put a lot more effort into this comment then the movie was worth.… Expand

1 of 5 users found this helpful14

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3

RenwickeJun 1, 2014

This sequel just didn't live up to the first film. Sullivan Stapleton delivers a decent performance but the most notable performance was Eva Green's. Being that this is supposed to be full scale war, I expected it to be more epic than the first.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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MacReady10Mar 15, 2014

Se il primo 300 meritava un 2 questo merita un 1 per la presa per il culo di farti credere che vogliono dare spessore alla trama e ai personaggi cattivi.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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3

AesculapiusManMar 19, 2014

Вторая часть полностью копирует первую в сюжете и очерёдности сцен: Сначала горстку войск посылают на сражение с могучей армией, среди них есть отец и сын, один из которых погибнет ; горстка вешает люлей в первые дни ; ЗатемВторая часть полностью копирует первую в сюжете и очерёдности сцен: Сначала горстку войск посылают на сражение с могучей армией, среди них есть отец и сын, один из которых погибнет ; горстка вешает люлей в первые дни ; Затем главнокомандующего вызывают на "переговоры" и тот отвечает отказом капитуляции ; затем их пытаются взорвать, но не выходит ; затем эпичный финал.
Но без колоритных спартанцев и золото-бордовой цветовой гаммы (которую сменили на сине-серую) - фильм проигрывает первой части.
Жалею что ходил на это убожество в кино! Никому не советую.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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2

zouz123Apr 16, 2014

A total waste of time and money. This movie could've been something BIGG! Too much meaningless slow-motion scenes, very weak story + poor acting. An episode of SPARTACUS alone is worth both 300 movies.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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3

BlaKDemonaZJan 3, 2015

Sofrível, totalmente forçado. Tentaram repetir toda a fórmula do primeiro filme, o original 300 (2006), só que forçando em tudo, dês da quantidade de sangue, até a câmera lenta nas batalhas e tudo mais. Enfim, filme fraco, que será esquecidoSofrível, totalmente forçado. Tentaram repetir toda a fórmula do primeiro filme, o original 300 (2006), só que forçando em tudo, dês da quantidade de sangue, até a câmera lenta nas batalhas e tudo mais. Enfim, filme fraco, que será esquecido rapidamente, e que eu não recomendo para ninguém!!… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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2

moviemayhemApr 28, 2015

Those who can look past the fact that 300: Rise Of An Empire depicts a war between white people (technically orange people, per the movie’s color scheme) who “don’t negotiate with tyrants” and the brown people who hate their freedom may beThose who can look past the fact that 300: Rise Of An Empire depicts a war between white people (technically orange people, per the movie’s color scheme) who “don’t negotiate with tyrants” and the brown people who hate their freedom may be able to enjoy it as a slice of bronzed and bloody beefcake kitsch. An awkward spin-off of Zack Snyder’s macho death fantasy 300, Rise Of An Empire retains the earlier film’s hyper-stylized, digital backlot slickness, but without the Spartan rah-rah-rah that has ensured 300’s enduring popularity. In its place is uninspiring jingoism, pitting the blue-cloaked Athenians, upholders of democracy, against the evil Achaemenid Empire, made up of Persians—and therefore Iranians—who wear anachronistic turbans. It’s a movie viewers are supposed to get off to, though anyone who just wants to watch waxed, ripped guys running, jumping, and thrusting (this is one of those cases where a sword isn’t just a sword) while wearing leather briefs may find their enjoyment soured by the perverse political power fantasies which are the film’s raison d’être.

Led by Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton), the outnumbered Athenians disembowel their way through the faceless (literally—the villains wear balaclavas and metal masks) Achaemenid horde, occasionally stopping to look off into the distance while thinking aloud about the brutality of war. About half of the film is in slow motion, with blood—thick, strawberry-jam-like, resembling the gore in a Build engine game—spurting out in all directions. The Athenians are merciless because they represent a higher ideal; the Achaemenid are merciless because they are the bad guys. During the naval battles, which make up most of the movie, the Achaemenids cruelly lash their galley slaves, while Athenian triremes are powered by the democratic values of young men who have chosen to row of their own free will.

There’s an irony here: Out of all the Ancient Greek city-states, Athens depended the most on slave labor, while the real-life Achaemenid Empire did not practice slavery. Athens also distinguished itself from its neighbors by granting women absolutely no legal rights. Even by the standards of the time, Athenian society was notoriously xenophobic. Their legal system was a joke and their foreign policy was brutal. In fact, aside from practicing a political system called “democracy”—open to only a small portion of the population and empowered by widespread slavery—Athens was hardly a model society. The Achaemenids, in the meantime, built roads and infrastructure, ensured religious freedom, established a postal service, and generally set the standard for large governments for centuries to come.

Why quibble with the historical details of a movie like Rise Of An Empire? Because, the way in which the movie—which is based on an unpublished Frank Miller comic—lionizes the Athenians reveals its values. Athenian misogyny is passed over, because the movie conveniently features only two female characters, neither of whom is Athenian: the Spartan queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) and the Carian commander Artemisia (Eva Green, wearing history’s first pair of hidden wedges). Visually, the Achaemenids are associated with black leather and gold, a look that’s half space-Nazi, half Yeezus tour. The diversity of their empire is underscored—perhaps as a way of avoiding accusations of vilifying one particular ethnic group—while the Athenians look so alike that it becomes difficult to tell characters apart.

The Achaemenids are a flashy, gold-chain-wearing group, composed of assorted peoples of color in baggy clothes and led by a treacherous, sexually aggressive woman. The Athenians are protecting the core values of modern Western society, and, as it happens, are composed entirely of white men without body hair or pants. Director Noam Murro and co-writers Snyder and Kurt Johnstad are probably not racists, misogynists, or xenophobes. However, not being a bigot doesn’t preclude acting like one. Actions, not intentions, hold value.

In this sense, Murro makes a perfect replacement for Snyder, a director whose work is fixated on visual and narrative flash, but which is continually undermined by ignorance of its implications. Murro doesn’t so much direct as frame and stage, placing the characters against digital desktop-wallpaper skies and constructing each battle scene as a showcase for the characters’ prowess and toughness. Aside from raccoon-eyed Green—the only actor aware of the movie’s campiness, shoving so much scenery into her mouth that she barely has time to chew—everyone in the cast exudes the same kind of serioso steely resolve. But what does all this cool posturing add up to? The answer lies in the title. The Empire in question is not the Achaemenids’, but Athens—a power that deserves to slaughter and subjugate its enemies because it represents a cornerstone of Western culture, and whose actions are excused because they represent noble intentions.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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2

adhamhanyJul 28, 2014

Not even half as good as the first part.

Very weak performances, especially of the leading man. Even the guy playing Xerxes isn't as good as he was in the first movie. Perhaps the only one performance that can be deemed 'good' is that ofNot even half as good as the first part.

Very weak performances, especially of the leading man. Even the guy playing Xerxes isn't as good as he was in the first movie. Perhaps the only one performance that can be deemed 'good' is that of Eva Green, and even she didn't have enough to work with. The script is too cheesy to have any emotional resonance. Even that sex scene was way too stupid.

The fight scenes are somewhat entertaining, though the idea of standard Greek soldiers easily killing the Immortals wasn't very convincing. These Immortals (aside from the entire Persian archery) were the only warriors who could kill some of Leonidas's 300.

Another thing that really bothered me was the blood. Too excessive. In 300, it was done within reason; and when it was, it looked real. But here, it's way overdone. Pools of blood coming out of people's bodies, and not realistically-looking as it should (and could) be. The slow-motion effect was also overused.

A very terrible and forgettable movie. Not worth the 90 minutes spent watching it.… Expand