Director: Noam Murro
Starring: Sullivan Stapleton, Eva green, Rodrigo Santoro, Igal Naor, and Lena Headey
Distributor: Roadshow Films
Runtime: 102 mins. Reviewed in Mar 2014

| |

Rating notes: Strong bloody violence and sex scene

This fantasy-action movie appears seven years after the film, “300” (2006), and depicts events occurring before, during, and after what happened in that film. The movie is based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel, “Xerxes, 300: Rise of an Empire”.

A number of actors in the cast have the same roles they took in the earlier film, and the action necessarily overlaps with “300” because many of the main characters met their death in the original film. A different Director, Noam Murro, is involved, and the movie is being released in 2D and 3D.

The film is battle-heavy and centres around the battle of Artemisium, which was a naval engagement that occurred around the same time as the battle of Thermopylae which was the focus of the movie, “300”. The fighting in this movie is between the Greek city-states and the Persian Empire in 480 BC, and the film follows the adventures of the leader of the Athenian general of the Greek army, Themistokles, portrayed by the Australian actor Sullivan Stapleton. David Wenham reappears in the role of Dilios. Themistokles goes to battle against Xerxes (Rodrigo Santorio), who has proclaimed himself God-king – a mortal turned God.

Artemesia (Eva Green), is the chief general of the Persian army, and is Themistokles’ main adversary. Xerxes’s quest is to conquer Greece with the help of Artemesia. While Persia marshals its forces to go to war, Thermistockes tries to unite all of Greece and takes the battlefield to the sea, with considerable effect.

The most impressive performance in this film is given not by any of the muscular male actors, who are everywhere, but by Artemisia, who seeks vengeance for the slaughter of her parents and others in her village by the invading Greeks when she was a young girl. Born in Greece but “Persian by heart”, she rose through the ranks to become the loyal protector of King Darius (Igal Naor), the Persian ruler, who was the father of Xerxes. In this film, she leads Persia’s forces against Greece. Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey), the warrior Queen of Sparta – who finally comes to Themistokles’ aid – narrates the movie.

Artemisia is Persia’s most formidable general and everything she does matches male toughness. However, the film throws all plot credibility to the wind when she makes aggressive love to Themistokles in an intense sexual scene, where she and Themistokles do all that they can to outwit and outperform each other.

The military engagements in this movie are drawn-out, but mounted impressively. The scenes of battle on the sea are spectacular, with the camera roaming everywhere among the churning waves and boats that ram each other. The special effects in battle reflect a good blending of the real and digital, and a throbbing musical score helps to set a suitable war-like tone. Both help to give the film a dark, sombre and ferocious look.

The violence in this movie is intense and bloody, and the film deserves its MA15+ rating. Bodies are dismembered bloodily in disconcerting slow motion. The attributes of noble heroism are present, such as the desire for a noble death, justice, pursuit of freedom, and defense of country and what one believes in, but the violence nearly always swamps any ideals. Contemporary relevance is projected by the movie mainly depicting men willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country, which is a popular theme captured by recent movies such as “Lone Survivor” (2013).

This is a blockbuster film with a decided taste for violence, and it is heavily stylised. Despite the abundance of male heroes around, Eva Green dominates in the role of Artemisia. The 3-D version makes everything more realistic. It enhances the battle scenes, but it also makes the violence that much more grisly and off-putting to watch.