A little lower on the testosterone quotient and more stylish than the first, the sequel doesn’t disappoint. Watch it and then probably read about the real battle of Artemisium.

If you are a fan of the franchise, the chances are you will be happy, for the rest, it is just another film that came and went by.

The problem arises in the scenes in between the action mayhem where we’re forced to look at people who are even blander than in the previous movie. It’s when you want to tell director Noam Murro dude just give us the action, not the lame and boring attempts at character development.

If you suffered from a 300 hangover long enough to lust for another round of some exotic imagery and blood curling sword fights then Rise of the Empire is the prime ticket this weekend.

The film exhibits a substantially better story-line, great performances from the cast, a slew of familiar faces from the first film and obviously excellent visuals.

After half an hour of watching the film, you feel the film rambles and gradually it becomes monotonous and wearisome. The dialogues are too feeble and laboured. What’s more? The characters have inconsistent accents which make the entire involvement far-fetched.

With more thunder thighs than in a Silk Smitha retrospective, 300’s sequel displays yet again the perils of pitting bare-chested fighters against a cavalry of archers. More clothes could do the trick in the inevitable sequel, in which The Man with the Golden Underwear will be given more to do than just distract audiences from the unrelenting carnage.

Made clearly to capitalize on the popularity of 300, Rise of an Empire is something like collected behind-the-scenes from the Persian invasion featured in 300. Whereas the first film chronicled, ab by ab, the Spartans’ heroic stand in the Battle of Thermopylae against Xerxes’s Persian invasion, Rise of an Empire is about the concurrent naval fight, the Battle of Artemisium.

A visually-stunning film that is definitely worth-watching. Though it’s not as good as its predecessor, it’s still an entertaining movie. Action movie fans, in particular, are bound to enjoy this flick.

The film itself looks fantastic, awash in a red-sepia tone that dominates everything. Although you will have seen many action films set during a point of time in history (this one’s set in 480 BC), there is plenty in here to keep your attention from start to finish.

It’s all extravagantly daft, moves at a fair clip and is over before you expect it to be .