300: Rise of an Empire

Zack Snyder makes it, er, bloody clear, his lust for Ancient Greek and Persian blood was not quenched by 2007 epic 300 in his latest box office offering.
Instead the seven year wait for another chapter to his adaptation of Frank Miller and Lynn Varley's graphic novel seems to have exasperated his thirst for bucketloads of battle-spilt blood.
It is all shown in one of this year's visual marvels 300: Rise of an Empire.
I watched Snyder's latest effort in 2D but it does appear to be made for 3D. Just in the way different parts of what is shown on screen interact in their environment: the flames floating across and out of the screen, the woodchips in the opening sequences and, of course, the copious amounts of splattering blood.
Snyder relinquishes the director's chair to Noam Murro, but stays on as a writer and producer. Snyder's trademark slow motion-heavy style of 300 remains however, with every limb forcibly detached from Persian and Greek bodies made to look like a piece of art.
The battles were every bit as mind-blowing as was to be expected. While the action in 300 focussed on King Leonidas' fictionalised effort to stall the Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae, Rise of an Empire is all about naval combat.
Ships used as battering rams and ripping others in two, scores of prisoners whipped in both camps to power the boats towards the opposing armies, the awesome speeches from Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) - every aspect of the battle scenes had me on the edge of my seat and loving every second.
With so much emphasis on the visuals and battle scenes (and using the majority of the budget on fake blood), do not expect much in terms of the screenwriting. I personally loved Thermistocle's speeches - there's nothing like a general giving that final speech before going into battle - but the rest of the dialogue fell flat.
If you love a battle and love ancient history (even if it's fictionalised), you'll love 300: Rise of an Empire.