300: Rise of an Empire - 1 smile

“300: Rise of an Empire” is the weaker stepbrother to 300, the 2006 success starring Gerard Butler. In that film, director Zack Snyder put his gifts to use bringing ancient Greece to a mesmerizingly synthetic version of real life. It was a stylized mash-up of graphic novel narrative and video game imagery. “Rise of an Empire” isn’t a sequel as much as a parallel story, catching up with the Athenian-led Grecian forces at the same time that 300’s King Leonidas and his Spartans are making their stand at Thermopylae. While no big stars are likely to emerge from the gruesome swordplay of this installment, the film does feature at least one genuinely memorable performance by Eva Green, playing Persian naval genius Artemisia with such gothic bloodlust that the only thing missing is her actually drinking her enemy’s blood. Artemisia has been sent by Persian god-king Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) to defeat Greece and avenge the death of Xerxes’ father, Darius, at the hands of soldier Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton). Suffice it to say, things don’t go exactly according to plan.

Based on a still-to-be-published graphic novel by Frank Miller, “Rise of an Empire” is directed by Noam Murro, focusing on a series of crashing sea battles with a monochromatic palette barely enlivened by syrupy blood that spurts, squirts and gushes. In addition, Murro uses and re-uses (to the point of being boring) slow-motion shots of blood, water and sweat, as well as sundry dismemberments, impalings and decapitations. Even those admirable six-pack abs in the original seem to be missing a can or two, especially on our hero and although Stapleton gives it the ol’ college try, he lacks Butler’s charisma (and physique). And his supporting players are little more than anonymous shirtless guys. It’s the women of “Rise of an Empire” who make the most impact: Lena Headley, as Spartan Queen Gorgo, makes effective use of her lamentably limited time on screen and Green savors her role as the ruthless anti-heroine. However, even they can’t save “300: Rise of an Empire.” 3/11/14