A feast in so many ways! Unbelievably clear, brilliant photography. Very graphic, but never ceases to amaze. The film is ultimately not as exciting or entertaining as its predecessor, but nevertheless still fascinating. Plot flaws galore, it doesn't quite made sense why Themistokles went to Artemisia's ship, as it seemed like a suicide mission, but the sex scene that subsequently followed was indeed one to behold!

The film does become a bit repetitive and the slow motion overdone, but the eye candy more than compensates for this! Sullivan Stapleton makes a likable hero.

Making a sequel to 300 must have been a daunting prospect. After all, the story of the Battle of Thermopylae was a self-contained war film with a very definitive ending seemingly at odds with the idea of a sequel. However, the makers of 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE have done a good job with this film, which offers more of the same while something different at the same time.

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE is a deeply flawed film with plenty of problems, but nonetheless I enjoyed it. The film is packed full of war action - with a distinctive naval slant this time around - filmed in the same highly stylised way as in the first film. Thus we get lots of CGI blood sprays, slow motion hits, and superhuman feats. I'm easily pleased when it comes to well directed action, and this film doesn't disappoint in that respect.

Although the central characters lack the gravitas of Gerard Butler, Vincent Regan, and Michael Fassbender from the original film - and Sullivan Stapleton as the protagonist is seemingly devoid of charisma - this film does boast an excellent villainous performance from Eva Green. Green seems to be giving her all with her character in this one, relishing the opportunity to play a hard-bitten, ass-kicking female commander. She's by far the best character in the thing.

Elsewhere, RISE OF AN EMPIRE has some prequel stuff showing the rise of the Persian god king Xerxes, some concurrent stuff (a CGI composite of Butler is brought back in the same way they brought Schwarzenegger back in TERMINATOR SALVATION) and sequel antics. Unfortunately the storyline is very predictable and Lena Headey's character shouldn't have been included at all. But there are some spectacular set-pieces here, particularly the fiery attack in the water, and as mindless action it works well.

Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) was the leader of the Athenian forces who killed King Darius during the battle of Marathon 10 years ago. His son Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) disobeys the final words of Darius to launch an all out war on the Greeks egged on by ruthless Persian general Artemisia (Eva Green) bent on revenge. While King Leonidas and his 300 are at Thermopylae, Themistocles has gathered a force of regular folks to take on the massive Persian navy.

It's been 8 years since the first movie. The shock of originality is long gone. There has been many others since especially the Spartacus TV show. That is this movie's greatest deficit. It would have been a good sequel 6 years ago. This just feels a little worn out. A tired narration by Lena Headey at the start doesn't help. Sullivan Stapleton doesn't quite have the same big screen presence. The standout in this movie is Eva Green. She has a grand time playing the villain. Like 300 and everything about this franchise, everything is stylized. They look good but the fakeness does grind on me. This franchise is best left finished. Its time has come and gone.