MAN DOWN: Gerard Butler refused to renew his role as King Leonidas for “300: Rise of an Empire.”

“300: Rise of an Empire” is exactly what you would expect from a sequel to “300,” which is a mediocre testosterone-fueled gore fest whose 102 minuets are filled with enough CG blood to fill the Straits of Salamis.

“300 Rise of an Empire” is a exaggerated telling of Battle of Salamis, a navel battle that took place during the Greco-Persian Wars and the Second Persian invasion of Greece. The battle took place in 480 B.C.A when a small fleet of Greek ships lead by Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) an Athenian politician and general that though out numbered four to one took on the invading Persian navy lead by Artemisia (Eva Green) who works under King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro). In the fiction of the film Themistocles kills Xerxes father Darius (Igal Naor) during the First Persian invasion of Greece, this turns “300: Rise of an Empire” into an dramatized tail of revenge that takes place at the same time as the original “300”. While Leonidas’s (Gerard Butler) royal guard of 300 Spartans defend Greece from the land.

Just like animated movies are targeted for children “300: Rise of an Empire ”  is targeted at those who go to movies wanting to see blood, gore and over the top action.

One of the most interesting thing about this movie is that it is filmed entirely on blue screen just like its predecessor, the place where “300: Rise of an Empire” falls short is that it attempts to take on too much, the animators had to make an entire ocean,(every drop of water was CGI), huge ships and more blood than can be measured.

“300: Rise of an Empire” is not a good movie in an sort of technical sense, all it really makes you want to do is watch the original “300” a much better version of what you just watched.