If you liked 2006’s 300, you will find much to love in this rousing sequel. Though not without its faults, 300: Rise of an Empire delivers exactly what it promises: meticulously choreographed fight sequences punctuated by huge splashes of blood and an unapologetic, un-ironic embrace of martial virtue in defense of freedom.
Rise of an Empire picks up where 300 left off. The Persian madman Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) has claimed the head of the fallen Spartan King Leonidas (Gerard Butler), following the deaths of the 300 Spartans holding the pass at Thermopylae. We then flash forward to the sacking of Athens by the Persian forces, before flashing backward to Athens prior to its fall (and before the fateful battle portrayed in the first film), where Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) is trying...