300: Rise of an Empire Movie Review

300: Rise of an Empire

                                                  

300: Rise of an Empire is an action drama fantasy movie released in March, 2014. As anyone can guess, this is the sequel of the epic film ‘300’. It is based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel Xerxes. 300: Rise of an Empire is written by Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad and Frank Miller and directed by Noam Murro. The major characters of this film are played by Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey, Hans Matheson, David Wenham, David Wenham, Rodrigo Santoro, Jack O'Connell and Andrew Tiernan.

300: Rise of an Empire tells the story which happened before, during and after the story of its prequel 300 and the Greeks' attempts to stop the Persians from taking their homeland. 

 

Eva Green and Sullivan Stapleton in a scene of 300: Rise of an Empire

Plot:

The plot of 300: Rise of an Empire starts 10 years before the battle happened in 300. The Persians came to conquer Greece, but they got defeated by the superior tactics of Greek general Themistocles. In that battle, Themistocles kills the Persian king, who was the father of the next king, Xerxes. Xerxes comes back to his land and with the help of his father’s naval commander, Artemisia, gains his power and emerged as the ‘God King’. Artemisia was a cruel but extraordinary intelligent warrior and general of the navy, who had a shady past and was seeking her revenge on the Greeks.

10 years later, Xerxes is now again invading Greece. Themistocles manages to convince all the states of Greece to provide him ships, with which, he will stop the Persian army at the sea. He then goes to seek help from Sparta, where he learns that the Spartan king Leonidas is consulting the oracles. He comes back to his town. With the help of his friend who also works as a spy and infiltrates the Persian troops, Themistocles learns the nature of Artemisia.

Themistocles, with his troops and ships, comes face to face with Artemisia’s troops in the sea. For the first two attacks, Themistocles successfully stops the Persians from advancing and with his brilliant tactics, make the Persians retreat. The Persian army loses a good number of soldiers, where Themistocles loses only a few men.

Impressed with Themistocles’s intelligence, Artemisia invites him to her ship. She uses sex to convince him to join her team as her second-in-command. Themistocles refuses and he is sent back to the land without any harm. But he knows that Artemisia has become mad and next day they are going to face a very tough battle.

He was not wrong. On the next day, Artemisia uses her brute force and maximum of her powers to destroy the Greek ships. Both side faces heavy losses and believing that Themistocles has died, Artemisia retreats with her troops, where Themistocles is luckily saved.

On the land, Xerxes has already killed king Leonidas and has started to destroy Greek cities. Themistocles visits mourning queen Gorgo (king Leonidas’s wife) of Sparta and again asks for her assistance, where she again refuses. Before leaving, Themistocles hands her king Leonidas’s sword and asks her to avenge him.

Meanwhile, Artemisia learns that Themistocles is still alive and is again preparing for a battle. She starts for that battle without her king Xerxes’s consent. They have a little argument between them.

Themistocles’s soldiers are depressed by their loss and the refusal of their call of assistance by the Spartans. But as a perfect leader, Themistocles inspires them to fight and take their revenge. He also makes some special arrangement for himself in his ship to use on the battle. So, with his troops, he comes face to face again with Artemisia.

Sullivan Stapleton in 300: Rise of an Empire 

My review about the movie 300: Rise of an Empire:

I liked this movie, but not as much as its prequel, 300. If you are a big fan of 300, this one may even disappoint you.

The plot of 300: Rise of an Empire was good. But if you are interested to learn about what happened after 300 ends, here is the first disappointment. This one also ends without giving an exact result of the war between the Persians and the Greeks. Just like its prequel, 300: Rise of an Empire ends within the war without telling us the fate about the Greeks.

The cinematography of 300: Rise of an Empire was also good, but not as good as 300. The use of fantasy was also less, we didn’t see much of the gigantic creatures or magic.

The acting of all the characters were good. Specially, Eva Green’s performance was outstanding. Her character was also so powerful and important that several times, it felt like she was the leading character of 300: Rise of an Empire. But none other characters were as charming as the characters of 300. Almost none of the charms of the character of king Leonidas were here at the character of the hero Themistocles. His character was also not as strong as that of king Leonidas of 300. Even king Xerxes’s and queen Gorgo’s character in 300: Rise of an Empire did not seem as powerful as we saw in the prequel.

But what I missed most in 300: Rise of an Empire was the epic dialogues from 300. Although the dialogues were good, but they were nowhere near the epicness of the dialogues of 300. I really missed something like “Tonight we dine in hell”, “Madness? This is Sparta!”, “Give them nothing, but take from them everything”.

The use of special effects also seemed inferior in 300: Rise of an Empire than its sequel. Most of the special effects were limited to showing bloods in slow motion.

There are a few nude scenes in 300: Rise of an Empire. For those and other gore scenes, this is not a movie you can watch with kids.

I think if the director thought that the success of the movie 300 came only for its plot, acting and cinematography, but not for its characters and dialogues, then he has made a mistake. I loved the whole movie 300 for its art and everything from the beginning to the end seemed very artistic to me including the fighting, the gore scenes, the nude scenes and so on. But the sequel 300: Rise of an Empire lacked severely in the art.

But don't get me wrong, 300: Rise of an Empire is still a good movie, but it falls behind if you compare it with its prequel. If you are fan of 300, then you must watch 300: Rise of an Empire. Even if you feel a little disappointed, but you will not feel you time wasted by watching it.

Don't forget to visit the wikipedia link of 300: Rise of an Empire. You will find a lot of interesting historical facts about those wars by browsing the links given in the article.

So, how was your experience about 300: Rise of an Empire? Share with us in the comments.

To know more about 300: Rise of an Empire:

Wikipedia link : 300: Rise of an Empire Wiki
IMDB link :300: Rise of an Empire IMDB

To buy or rent this movie from Amazon, or to watch online, get the best deal on it here:  300: Rise of an Empire Movie

I, Frankenstein Movie Review

I, Frankenstein 

                                                                   

I, Frankenstein is a fantasy action thriller movie released in 2014. This movie is written by Stuart Beattie and Kevin Grevioux and directed by Stuart Beattie. The character Frankenstein is the same as the monster created by British author Mary Shelley in her famous novel 'Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'. The major characters of the movie I, Frankenstein are played by Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy, Yvonne Strahovski, Miranda Otto and Jai Courtney.

I, Frankenstein tells the story of the monster Frankenstein, who runs away and then comes back to the society in the modern world. He then gets caught between the fight of the demons and the angels. 

A scene from the movie I, Frankenstein 

Plot:

I, Frankenstein starts from the almost the same place where the novel Frankenstein ends. The difference is, here Victor Frankenstein heads to the arctic regions with his monster, where he dies. The monster comes back carrying Victor's dead body to the civilization. There he buries the body and just after that, some demons attack him. He is saved by some gargoyles. The gargoyles bring him back to their home. Here the queen of the gargoyles names him 'Adam' and tells him about their purpose in the earth.

She also tells him about demons and about their fight with them. They ask Adam to stay and fight with them, but Adam refuses. Adam takes some weapons and runs away from civilization. He stays alone for two centuries, but all these times the demons are trying to capture him. So to get rid of them, he finally comes back to civilization to hunt the demons himself.

He goes to a nightclub and there he kills some demons. Then the gargoyles again bring him to their home. In the meantime, we see the demon leader disguised as a human, who has appointed two scientists to bring life back to the deaths, the experiments which was done by Victor Frankenstein. Victor's journal (which is with Adam now) or Adam is very crucial for his experiments, to study and to come to a positive result.

The demon leader learns that Adam is now at the gargoyles' place, so he sends an army to catch him. The demons have a big fight with the gargoyles, which kills some on the most important gargoyle soldiers and also a lot of demons. The demons capture gargoyle queen and take her as a hostage. From a demon, Adam learns that she will be released if Adam or Victor's journal is given to the demons.

Adam frees the gargoyle queen in exchange of the journal. He then follows a demon and goes to their headquarter. There he sees thousands of dead bodies are kept by the demons. Then he meets the demon leader, who tells Adam his masterplan, which is to bring life (actually, demon spirit) to all these dead bodies and make an army, with which, he will rule the earth. Adam then retrives the journal and leaves that place.

The demons leader sends a demon to capture Adam. Adam takes help from the lady scientist of the demon leader, who trusts Adam after seeing the demon herself. Adam kills that demon and goes into hiding. He also warns the gargoyles about the demon's plan. Seeing the danger of mankind, the gargoyle queen sends her highest gargoyle to kill Adam. But finally Adam kills him and then he destroys the journal.

Adam is now a common enemy of both of the demons and the gargoyles. The demons want to capture and study him where the gargoyles want to kill him for the safety of the mankind. The gargoyles led by their queen chase Adam and he runs to the demons' headquarter, which puts the demons and the gargoyle army face to face.

My review about the movie I, Frankenstein :

I, Frankenstein seemed like just a very average movie.

The plot of I, Frankenstein was interesting but very predictable. It didn't give any exciting ending at all. The direction and the screenplay was very average.

The acting of all the major characters of I, Frankenstein were okay. The dialogues were also very average, neither bad nor nothing special. I think, it would seem better if a little more importance was given to the character of the lady scientist. The make ups in I, Frankenstein were good, specially the make up of Adam. But considering all other characters, the make ups of the demons (in their demon form) should have been better. 

The special effects and the animations of I, Frankenstein were very impressive. Specially the gargoyles looked really good. The lighting and the camera works were also good for most of the parts. 

Some concepts of I, Frankenstein looked really unrealistic, even for a fantasy film. For example, after roaming in the uncivilized regions of the earth for 200 years, how come Adam knew the roads and the exact place where he could get a lead on the demons? How come so much actions could go around causing the crashing of cars and buildings without alerting any human at all?

I, Frankenstein does not contain any nude or gore scene, so you can watch it safely with children.

So, finally, I, Frankenstein didn't seem like an enjoyable movie. You can enjoy this movie for the special effects or some of the action scenes, but not the plot or anything else. Although it has an average IMDB rating of 5.4 (while I'm writing this), but I think that is overrated. I will not recommend to watch I, Frankenstein to anyone. But if you have enough time to kill, watching I, Frankenstein won't waste your time.

Have you already watched I, Frankenstein? Do you agree with my views? Share with others in the comments.

To know more about it:

IMDB Link: I, Frankenstein on IMDB

Wikipedia Link: I, Frankenstein Wiki

To buy or rent this movie from Amazon, or to watch online, you can get the best deal on it here: I, Frankenstein Movie.

Wrong Turn 5 Movie Review

Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines
                                                      

Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines is a crime horror thriller movie released in 2012. This movie is written by Declan O'Brien, Alan B. McElroy and directed by Declan O'Brien. The main characters of Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines are played by Doug Bradley, Camilla Arfwedson, Simon Ginty, Roxanne McKee, Paul Luebke, Oliver Hoare, Kyle Redmond-Jones and Amy Lennox. Radoslav Parvanov, George Karlukovski and Borislav Iliev play the characters of the three serial killers. As the name suggests, Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines is the fifth movie of the horror franchise Wrong Turn. 

Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines is the story of the same old tree psychopath serial killers, who haunts five teen tourists and some police in a small town.

A Scene from the movie Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines

Plot:

Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines starts with a newscaster reporting about some festival from a small town. At one time, she goes to the woods and then gets attacked and killed by the three disfigured psychopaths. This time we see another man with them. Later on, it is revealed that that man is somewhat a relative of them and they are living in a cabin in the woods under his protection. He scolds them for not being enough careful.


Then we see a group of five teens, who are camping in the jungle. They have plans to visit somewhere else, but decides to visit that small town to see that festival. While they are on the way, they hit the relative of the maniacs (although it was planned by him). When they get out the car, he attacks them, but the sheriff and his deputy arrives there just then. The sheriff finds some drugs with the teens and after hearing everything, she arrests the group and the man and takes them all to the police station of the town. She (the sheriff) leaves her deputy with the crashed car, who is then killed by the three psychopaths who were waiting nearby for their prey.

At the police station, one of the teens confess that he owns all the drugs. So the sheriff lets the other four teens go. They rent rooms in a nearby hotel. Meanwhile in the police station, the man (the relative of the killers) threatens the sheriff that she should let him go, otherwise his people will come for him and kill everyone to set him free. Naturally, nobody gets scared.

The three killers reach that town to look for him. It seems like the festival of that small town is something like a Halloween costume party, so the disfigured maniacs roam around the town without drawing much attention. Then they enter the power station of that town, kill the guard and shut down the power of the whole town.

Then they start killing the teens one by one. They even kill one in front of the police station. This creates panic and the sheriff frees the captured teen along with another prisoner and gives them shotgun after deputizing them. But this doesn't stop the three killers. She also tries to get help from other nearby police stations, but fails. They manage to kill her husband also.

At one point, the relative of the killers gets free from the jail. Now, the leader rejoins the unstoppable group of killers. Can the sheriff stop them? Can any of the teens survive? To find the answer, you need to watch the movie.


My review about the movie Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines:
First of all, I didn't like this movie at all.

The plot of Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines is very simple and predictive. If you have seen a few Hollywood horror movies or any other of the same series, it will be pretty easy to predict the ending which is nowhere near exciting at all. The direction was also bad. And as a horror movie, Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines will fail totally to scare anyone.

The acting of the leading characters in Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines were not that bad. The dialogues and the make ups were okay, although nothing extraordinary. The scenes of the killing were gore in Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines which they were meant to be. Although the scenes in the jungle looked good in this movie, but the set design of the town was poor.

Another important thing is, in Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines, the teens plan to go to that town and reaches there, so this fifth movie of this franchise does not contain its trademark scene, a mistakenly taken 'wrong turn'.

Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines contains nudity and gore scenes. So who has any idea of this movie series, knows this is not for children.

I've had the chance to watch only the Wrong Turn 4 of this series other than Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines, so I can't compare the fifth one with the ones before part 4. But to me, Wrong Turn 4 was far better than this. I've read in a lot of discussions that the first two movies of this series were actually good and then the series is getting worse by each new sequel. And most of people has given their comments as Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines is the worst of this series.

So, finally, I didn't like Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines for its lack of a good plot, lack of any excitement or surprise, poor set design and too many gore scenes. A poor IMDB rating of 4 (while I'm writing this review) also supports my opinion. I think, other than the hardcore fan of this gore horror movies, nobody else will enjoy Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines.

What do you think of Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines? Share with us in the comments.

To know more about this movie:
IMDB link: Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines IMDB
Wikipedia Link:Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines Wiki

To buy or rent this movie, or to watch online from Amazon, check the best deal here: Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines Movie. 

The review of the sequel of this movie, Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort is published here: Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort Review