300: Rise of an Empire

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300: Rise of an Empire

R

Released Mar 7, 2014

1h 43m

Action

Adventure

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

45%

Tomatometer

197 Reviews

51%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Xerxes, driven by vengeance for his father's death, leads an army against Greece; Greek city-states join forces under Athens' command to fight Artemisia in a naval battle.

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Critics Consensus

It's bound to hit some viewers as an empty exercise in stylish gore, and despite a gonzo starring performance from Eva Green, 300: Rise of an Empire is a step down from its predecessor.

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Candice Frederick

Reel Talk Online

300: Rise of an Empire... may focus on the brawny Greek and Persian battles of the 480-479 BC era, but it also presents a kickass group of complex women characters whose sexual prowess is as mighty as their swords.

Rated: B+

Sep 5, 2017

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David Stratton

At the Movies (Australia)

[The story] gets constantly literally swamped by the blood and gore and so forth, which is well done but almost to the point of parody.

Rated: 2/5

Mar 12, 2014

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Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

metro.co.uk

The big box-tick here is that it is the women who ultimately command the impressively surging CGI hordes on both sides.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 10, 2014

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

…very much more of the same in terms of bare-chested speeches and heavy bouts of narration, but the epic sea battles are freshly presented, and the spectacle is huge throughout…

Rated: 3/5

Jul 13, 2023

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

Aside from Green, “300: Rise of an Empire” doesn’t have a lot to offer.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 25, 2022

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Green enlivens the screen. The rest consists of profuse bloodshed and slow-motion, copying Snyder’s style to mind-numbing extremes.

Rated: 2.5/4

Aug 18, 2022

Full Review

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21 - Priyan B

Entertaining action drama. Rating: 7.3/10

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/11/25

Full Review

Stephen L

300: Rise of an Empire expands upon Zack Snyder’s original visually striking epic, delivering another blood-soaked spectacle of slow-motion carnage and larger-than-life heroics. While it doesn’t match the sheer impact of 300, Noam Murro’s follow-up successfully maintains the series’ signature style, blending stylized violence with mythic grandeur. Sullivan Stapleton steps into the lead as Themistocles, but it’s Eva Green’s fierce and unpredictable performance as Artemisia that truly steals the show. Green brings an intensity that elevates the film beyond its formulaic plotting, making her one of the most memorable antagonists in recent action cinema. The naval battles provide a fresh twist on the first film’s combat-heavy narrative, though some of the film’s CGI excesses push it into overindulgence. While it lacks the raw energy and tight storytelling of 300, Rise of an Empire still delivers where it counts - with striking visuals, relentless action and a scene-stealing Eva Green.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/16/25

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Troy Minh C

The 300 films and films in general aren’t always the most realistic, but this is a fantastic film. Artemisia has to be the most genuine justified and evil female antagonist in entertainment in a very long time. While many characters shine bright from this film, she shines the brightest. From great acting from Eva Green, this character is simply just written well and rather than what is done nowadays; putting women in “badass” roles for the sake of it, Artemisia/Eva excels in this role because no one else can. Best female character of all time.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/14/24

Full Review

Sara A

This film is a huge lieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee and distortion of history we aren’t an idiot. The director and writers, If you don’t know anything about history, don’t make it and please research first . This film is just disgusting and a huge insult!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

11/07/24

Full Review

Robbie W

Bad CGI. Over-using slow-mo choreography. Narration gone overboard. Bad directing, bad writing. And you can’t really complain about not having enough source material.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

07/11/24

Full Review

Joshua m

Eva Green's performance is the redeeming feature of this film. That these are historical figures also makes it worth a watch. Visually interesting with enough graphic sex and violence to entertain. Dramatically, it is a bit dull.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/08/24

Full Review

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Noam Murro

Director

Sullivan Stapleton

Themistokles

Eva Green

Artemisia

Lena Headey

Queen Gorgo

Hans Matheson

Aeskylos

Callan Mulvey

Scyllias

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61%

89%

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300: Rise of an Empire: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Xerxes, driven by vengeance for his father's death, leads an army against Greece; Greek city-states join forces under Athens' command to fight Artemisia in a naval battle.

Director: Noam Murro
Producer: Gianni Nunnari, Mark Canton, Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Bernie Goldmann
Screenwriter: Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Mark Canton/Gianna Nunnari, Cruel and Unusual Films
Rating: R (Nudity|A Sex Scene|Some Language|Stylized Bloody Violence)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 7, 2014, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 14, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $106.6M
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: Datasat, Dolby Digital

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