I liked the first “300” movie; it was stylish and exciting. “300: Rise Of An Empire” is a prequel, sequel and midquel that fails to live up to the original. Perhaps one of the reasons why this feels a little underwhelming is the fact that a lot of the action takes place at sea and the visual style of the “300” movies is not really suited to naval combat sequences.

As Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro “The 33”) and his Persian forces lay siege to Greece, Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton “Gangster Squad”) leads the Greek naval effort against the vengeful Artemisia (Eva Green “Casino Royale”).

I thought Gerard Butler was really fitting for the lead role of King Leonidas in the original “300” so Sullivan Stapleton’s Themistokles ends up feeling like a poor substitute. I still was not overly keen on the depiction of Xerxes. Eva Green is okay as Artemisia. The other characters were not particularly memorable. The weaker characters made it harder for me to get as involved with this one. A problem that I had with the first “300” was that some of the villains are more like monsters than human. Sadly, the problem persists in “300: Rise Of An Empire”. The “Sin City” style visuals on all the characters are still enchanting.

“300: Rise Of An Empire” does contain some impressive scenes and I think those that really enjoyed the first movie might have some fun with this one. It certainly is not a bad movie, it is generally just more of the same. I think the decision to have this not be a clear sequel or prequel is in some respects interesting but I imagine those that have not seen the first movie in a while will feel a little confused. If you have not seen the first movie yet, I recommend you watch that.