Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/292263
APRIL 9-15, 2014 UCW 21 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM I wasn't thrilled when I heard they were making a sequel to 300, a groundbreaking visual feast of a movie. The original story was fine as a standalone adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel, and I didn't expect a sequel had anything more to add. Let's face it, 300 inspired a number of artistic copycats, and unless 300: Rise of an Empire (102 minutes) was radically different in tone and style, it was doomed to be more of the same old thing. Guess what? It was not radically different. I didn't watch this film, I suffered through it. This is a great place to give a PSA about Hollywood's inability to write for female characters. Lena Heady returns as Queen Gorgo; and, credit where credit is due, she eventually gets to swing a sword. For all of five minutes. Mostly, she provides voiceover services and sullenly mourns the loss of King what's- his-name (Gerard Butler) from the first movie. For the love of Mike why didn't she get to behead a few regiments of Persian invaders in the name of Sparta? She only gets to go to war when she is reminded about how she should be angry because her husband is dead and he needs to be avenged. That brings us to Artemisia (Eva Green) the least believable character in the film. Her backstory (helpfully narrated by one of the boys) is a confused mess of improbability. As the movie takes place, she mostly sits back and lets various commanders try to impress her with their inability to seal the deal in battle after battle. Adding insult to injury, when she finally does take a more active role in fighting, her first move is to bring Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) on board her vessel and use her lady parts to convince him to switch sides. Because if there's one thing that a woman who has been sexually abused to the point of death for years on end is ready to do, it's to try to seduce random hostile forces in hopes of finding an equal to stand by her side. Because women are too frail to just be by themselves and kill lots of Greeks and command vast naval forces. No sir, they need a ring on it. And the audience won't take a female villain seriously unless she struts and slinks around and shows off lots of everything by wearing mere shreds of diaphanous fabric. And of course, when the male protagonist rejects her offer she gets all weird about it because if a woman can't seduce a guy she flips out and wipes out his army because women are so emotional. Also, her dialogue sucked. All things considered, why have her in the movie at all? Well that's easy. Since Thermistocles has no wife and spends the entire movie surrounded by scantily clad, oiled up, muscle men, having sex with Artemisia affirms his machismo. Also, the male audience gets a reassuring pat on the head because even though Artemisia is a violent sociopathic killing machine, she is still just lady with lady parts in need of some masculine authority. The character of Smurfette plays a similar role in The Smurfs. Now, let's get on to talking about the plot. Ha-ha, just kidding. There wasn't really a plot. Just a series of vignettes strung together like macaroni shells on a craft project necklace. First, a quick recap of 300. Then, some scenes highlighting rape and burning cities. Next, a flashback, and a couple of violent battles. This is followed by a series of oiled up men draped in velvet giving inspiring speeches—blah blah, die on your feet live on your knees, blah blah. Ships ram into other ships, the sea is set on fire, the good guys win. Not that there were really any good guys. Overall, I gifted this with three stars because, if nothing else, it certainly delivers on its promise to bring violence, nudity, and naval battles to the table. However, it's hard to imagine this as much more than a soulless showcase for brutality without much appeal for anyone but the hard core fans of the original (film or graphic novel). They Bite and Fight and Fight and Bite and Fight 300: Rise of an Empire (Rated R) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upand- comingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. SATURDAY, APRIL 27th • 7:30am - 3:00pm $50 per entry • $30 per additional rider Register at Special Ops Museum • 7:30am • Kickstands up at 8:45am OR Register at Rocking A Ranch • 9:00am • Kickstands up at 11:00am PLEASE ARRIVE WITH A FULL TANK OF GAS *All proceeds to be donated to Shriners Hospitals for Children, The American Cancer Society & Kidsville News. Any contributions are welcomed. 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