300: Rise of an Empire (2014)

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE  (2014)  ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: Noam Murro
    Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey,
    Hans Matheson, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham
Brave, hunky Greeks charge into battle against the invading Persians led by wicked warrior vamp Eva Green. This isn't really a sequel to the first "300" movie as much as it is a meanwhile, letting you know what the Athenians were up to around the time the Spartans were defending Thermopylae. Turns out they were busy splitting skulls and severing heads and slaughtering Persians, too. So it's more of the same, a lot more, the main difference being that these are naval battles. It's exciting, gory and outlandish. It moves real fast. It looks and sounds great. It's a 21st-century animator's view of ancient war: a thousand ships on a digital sea turning red with computerized blood. Like it or not, the guys who made it knew exactly what they were doing. And if anybody could bring an army to its knees, paralyzed by her reptilian glare, it's Eva Green.