Fans of the slow-motion feast of blood and violence that was Zack Snyder’s ‘300’ should now be ready for some more. Warner Bros. has released the trailer of ‘300: Rise Of An Empire’. An adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel ‘Xerxes’, ‘300: Rise Of An Empire’ is a sequel to ‘300’ in the loosest sense of the word. It takes place around the same time as the events in ‘300’. Gerard Butler fans will be disappointed to know that King Leonidas does not play a role in this film.
The trailer begins with showing destruction from a battle. ‘300’ depicted the Battle of Thermopylae, an engagement entirely on land. ‘300: Rise Of An Empire’ goes for a different territory though – the Battle of Artemisium – a naval engagement. It begins with Artemisia (played by Eva Green) giving a rousing speech to her Greek warriors as they begin battle with the armies of King Xerxes of Persia (played by Rodrigo Santigo, who returns to the role). Artemisia is the right hand to Themistocles, the lead character for the sequel, played by Sullivan Stapleton.
The trailer shows the Greek warriors preparing for war in the highly stylised manner made famous by Zack Snyder in ‘300’. We see a lot of money shots from the battle. Particularly striking is the shot where two smaller ships crash into a larger one from different sides, crushing it entirely. We are then shown dead soldiers sinking into the deep ocean, the red blood in the blue water hitting our eyes. The trailer is out to impress.
Unfortunately, Zack Snyder is just a producer on ‘300: Rise Of An Empire’, while Noam Murro is directing. He seems to have retained the look and feel of ‘300’ successfully though, giving fans of the graphic novel exactly what they want.
‘300: Rise Of An Empire’ is expected to release in March 2014.
