Is 300: Rise Of An Empire Worth Watching? Breaking Down The 300 Follow-Up's Reviews & Rotten Tomatoes Scores (2024)

Summary

300: Rise of an Empire acts as both prequel and sequel to 300, exploring another battle during the same time period as Thermopylae.
The film received mixed reviews, with a 45% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. Some praised the action and Eva Green's performance.
While not as critically acclaimed as the original, fans of 300 and historical action epics may still find 300: Rise of an Empire enjoyable.

300: Rise of an Empire is the little-known sequel to Zack Snyder's smash hit 300, and many fans of the original film are wondering if they should check out the 2014 follow-up. The film acts as a prequel and a sequel to the timeline of 300, with it expanding on the events of the film by showing another battle that was taking place at around the same time as Leonidas' battle at Thermopylae. While 300 is still incredibly popular, 300: Rise of an Empire isn't as well known, with tons of viewers of the original film not having checked it out yet.

Zack Snyder's 300 is one of the director's biggest hits, with the film telling the story of the Battle of Thermopylae, in which King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans fought the much bigger Persian army. 300 is based on a comic series of the same name, and the film adaptation was a huge success, with it making $456 million on a $60 million budget and receiving positive critical reviews. Because of the success of 300, a sequel attempted to capitalize on the original film, with 300: Rise of an Empire following in the original movie's footsteps.

What Happened To Themistocles In 300: Rise Of An Empire

The ancient Greek soldier Themistocles was depicted in the 2014 film 300: Rise of an Empire, but some liberties were taken with history in the movie.

300: Rise Of An Empire Has A 45% Score From Critics On Rotten Tomatoes

The movie's Rotten Tomatoes audience score is 51%

300: Rise of an Empire didn't perform as well critically as its 2006 predecessor, with the film having a 45% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes as of the writing of this article. This reflects the mixed and negative reviews that the sequel received upon its release, with 300: Rise of an Empire not impressing many critics. The film didn't do well with general audiences either, as 300: Rise of an Empire only has a 51% audience score, meaning that everyday viewers only liked it slightly more on average than the critics.

Although 300: Rise of an Empire has a worse Rotten Tomatoes score than 300, it isn't by too much. The first 300 movie only has a 61% critics score, meaning that, while on average critics liked 300 more, it wasn't by much. The bigger difference comes when looking at the audience score, as 300 has an 89%, which is much higher than 300: Rise of an Empire's 51% (via Rotten Tomatoes). So, while critics tend to be bigger fans of the first 300, the same is even more true for general audiences.

300: Rise Of An Empire's Reviews Praise Its Action Gore & Eva Green's Performance But Compare It Unfavorably To 300

It didn't live up to Snyder's original

The Rotten Tomatoes score of 300: Rise of an Empire reflects the mixed reviews that the film has gotten, as some parts were well-liked by viewers, but other parts were not. The biggest positives of the film have to do with the action, as the reviews tend to praise the fight scenes and gore, something that 300 got right. Eva Green's performance as the Greek queen Artemisia has also been acclaimed, with it being one of the best aspects of the film.

However, even these parts of 300: Rise of an Empire aren't as good as similar parts in 300. While the action is good, it is hard to compare to Zack Snyder's legendary 300 action scenes, parts of which went on to define the director's style. On top of that, nearly every performance in 300 is legendary, and that is mostly due to the film's writing. 300 is full of famous quotes that have become iconic since the film was first released in 2006, with this having a hand in elevating each character and actor.

300: Rise of An Empire is a sequel to the historical epic action film 300, and features a number of overlapping characters with the original film.

300: Rise Of An Empire Is Worth Watching For Fans Of 300 & Historical Action Epics

Fans of the original will enjoy the sequel

While the reviews for 300: Rise of an Empire are mixed, it is worth watching for some. Fans of the original 300 will be able to get a lot out of 300 Rise of an Empire, as it explores the world further and brings back the signature style and tone of the Zack Snyder movie and the original comics.

On top of that, fans of historical action epics in general will enjoy 300: Rise of an Empire, as it features many of the genre's staples. Not only does 300: Rise of an Empire explore the true story of the battles it portrays, but it also adds in some elements in order to make it seem more epic, similar to the original 300. So, while the film may not be a hit with everyone, there are definitely fans out there who will love 300: Rise of an Empire.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

300: Rise of an Empire

Action

Drama

War