Khaíre!
Welcome back! after much toiling in the Video Game world, and some dabbling in Game of Thrones (season 3 review coming soon.) I took some time to watch the new 300. 302?
Anyway, It's definitely the next level from the first, everything's bigger, that's not exactly a good thing.
The review's going to be loaded with spoilers for both this and the original 300. so if you haven't seen them, I implore you to see 300 (the first)
Pros:
Well, I loved the first 300. It stands as one of the most important movies in my life. up there with Nightmare Before Christmas and Lord of the rings. 300 Rise of an empire (henceforth called 302) has a very similar feel.
The Fight scenes are gorgeous. brutal gore and smooth editing. They almost seemed like dances of death instead of fighting. You could argue that's a con that it all seems preplanned but it was very pretty to look at.
And finally for all you girls, the '300 abs' return in form. Every guy looks like a chiseled statue. yet none quite have the physique of Gerard butler.
Cons:
First and foremost every damn scene had floating dust or fog or lens flares or blurry areas, or water, blood or dirt on the camera. It felt like they wanted to add production value to the movie by having dust floating in the frame, maybe just a cheap 3D stunt. I don't know but it became a headache. Lens flares do not belong in 3D. they feel forced and out of place. on a 2D feature it's not bad but when it's just floating in your vision it makes no sense.
Speaking of which the 3D of course added nothing, like it never does.
Moving on, Some of the choices in the action scenes reminded me of video game mechanics. some times I could almost see the quicktime even button pop up above people as it went to slow motion. there's a sequence later when Themistocles is on a horse (where the living banquet hall did the horse come from?) and he looks over to Artemisia on another boat and the camera zooms into her. It felt like when you get lost in a game and click the 'zoom to goal' button so you know where to go. It happens like three times in this scene almost like the movie is making sure you know where he's going.
Also how can a horse go from a burning boat, to underwater, to on another boat? did the horse jump? is this Skyrim?
Moving on. the slow motion in this one felt tacked on just because it was in the first one. there are some shots that just go too long. it's not even an interesting shot. The first had beautiful and gritty shots this had slow motion and 3D gags.
Next. the Acting. The first had a lot of great actors hidden in the movie. Michael Fassbender, David Wenham, Gerard Butler. this has a noname guy with a name we can barely pronounce. it felt like the B list cast compared to the first. Eva green was decent and to me is the stand out character in the movie. (that sex scene, not bad) but overall I even found myself frustrated with her too.
The movie didn't seem to know if it was in the past or the present. It starts with showing Xerxes's history. Knowing his past actually kills the character for me. I enjoyed him as a self proclaimed God King. I liked to think his piercings were of some importance instead of just being randomly formed when he went into a pool of water. I hated Xerxes's history. he went from Insane God to Pawn for his female assistant. Artemisia should have never been the real mastermind. Xerxes is the king. He's one of the most imposing villains n cinema, but he becomes nothing more than a pawn in this. the best thing he did in this was Bitch slap Artemisia.
Comparisons:
I've been comparing 300 and 302 all the way through this review, but lets face it, this is the straight to DVD sequel. It was lower on almost every aspect. the first had a very coherent and simple plot. Messenger insults King. King kills messenger. King marches with 300 (is it 300 or 299 plus Leonidas?) to a small area and fights the oncoming horde of Persia. then Dies.
the second is, History of characters we wont feel attached to. General going to Sparta to talk. general going to fight on boats. general fighting on more boats. general going back to Sparta. general back on boats. Sparta and mercenaries save general's ass. It didn't feel all that well thought out.
After 300 came out People quoted all sorts of lines. "THIS IS SPARTA!" "TONIGHT WE DINE, IN HELL!" and so on. I don't remember any lines in this. it just feels completely less.
The first movie had smooth flowing battles, long takes that used slow motion to emphasize the individual hits, this just used it randomly at every single hit. it killed the effect.
The First was gritty, it had that old school film feel, the gore wasn't 3D blood spray and Kill Bill level blood geysers. this one felt like they figured out how to do CG blood and overused it.
Final Notes:
300 will always be a special movie to me. but this was not the sequel it deserved. this was the B list version with better special effects and boats.
Final Verdict: 35
Gore, and Slow Motion.
Now to finish up the 3rd season of Game of Thrones. review either today or tomorrow morning.
Welcome back! after much toiling in the Video Game world, and some dabbling in Game of Thrones (season 3 review coming soon.) I took some time to watch the new 300. 302?
Anyway, It's definitely the next level from the first, everything's bigger, that's not exactly a good thing.
The review's going to be loaded with spoilers for both this and the original 300. so if you haven't seen them, I implore you to see 300 (the first)
MOVIE REVIEW: 300, Rise of an Empire
Well, I loved the first 300. It stands as one of the most important movies in my life. up there with Nightmare Before Christmas and Lord of the rings. 300 Rise of an empire (henceforth called 302) has a very similar feel.
The Fight scenes are gorgeous. brutal gore and smooth editing. They almost seemed like dances of death instead of fighting. You could argue that's a con that it all seems preplanned but it was very pretty to look at.
And finally for all you girls, the '300 abs' return in form. Every guy looks like a chiseled statue. yet none quite have the physique of Gerard butler.
Cons:
First and foremost every damn scene had floating dust or fog or lens flares or blurry areas, or water, blood or dirt on the camera. It felt like they wanted to add production value to the movie by having dust floating in the frame, maybe just a cheap 3D stunt. I don't know but it became a headache. Lens flares do not belong in 3D. they feel forced and out of place. on a 2D feature it's not bad but when it's just floating in your vision it makes no sense.
Speaking of which the 3D of course added nothing, like it never does.
Moving on, Some of the choices in the action scenes reminded me of video game mechanics. some times I could almost see the quicktime even button pop up above people as it went to slow motion. there's a sequence later when Themistocles is on a horse (where the living banquet hall did the horse come from?) and he looks over to Artemisia on another boat and the camera zooms into her. It felt like when you get lost in a game and click the 'zoom to goal' button so you know where to go. It happens like three times in this scene almost like the movie is making sure you know where he's going.
Also how can a horse go from a burning boat, to underwater, to on another boat? did the horse jump? is this Skyrim?
Moving on. the slow motion in this one felt tacked on just because it was in the first one. there are some shots that just go too long. it's not even an interesting shot. The first had beautiful and gritty shots this had slow motion and 3D gags.
Next. the Acting. The first had a lot of great actors hidden in the movie. Michael Fassbender, David Wenham, Gerard Butler. this has a noname guy with a name we can barely pronounce. it felt like the B list cast compared to the first. Eva green was decent and to me is the stand out character in the movie. (that sex scene, not bad) but overall I even found myself frustrated with her too.
The movie didn't seem to know if it was in the past or the present. It starts with showing Xerxes's history. Knowing his past actually kills the character for me. I enjoyed him as a self proclaimed God King. I liked to think his piercings were of some importance instead of just being randomly formed when he went into a pool of water. I hated Xerxes's history. he went from Insane God to Pawn for his female assistant. Artemisia should have never been the real mastermind. Xerxes is the king. He's one of the most imposing villains n cinema, but he becomes nothing more than a pawn in this. the best thing he did in this was Bitch slap Artemisia.
Comparisons:
I've been comparing 300 and 302 all the way through this review, but lets face it, this is the straight to DVD sequel. It was lower on almost every aspect. the first had a very coherent and simple plot. Messenger insults King. King kills messenger. King marches with 300 (is it 300 or 299 plus Leonidas?) to a small area and fights the oncoming horde of Persia. then Dies.
the second is, History of characters we wont feel attached to. General going to Sparta to talk. general going to fight on boats. general fighting on more boats. general going back to Sparta. general back on boats. Sparta and mercenaries save general's ass. It didn't feel all that well thought out.
After 300 came out People quoted all sorts of lines. "THIS IS SPARTA!" "TONIGHT WE DINE, IN HELL!" and so on. I don't remember any lines in this. it just feels completely less.
The first movie had smooth flowing battles, long takes that used slow motion to emphasize the individual hits, this just used it randomly at every single hit. it killed the effect.
The First was gritty, it had that old school film feel, the gore wasn't 3D blood spray and Kill Bill level blood geysers. this one felt like they figured out how to do CG blood and overused it.
Final Notes:
300 will always be a special movie to me. but this was not the sequel it deserved. this was the B list version with better special effects and boats.
Final Verdict: 35
Gore, and Slow Motion.
Now to finish up the 3rd season of Game of Thrones. review either today or tomorrow morning.
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