The Movie: Director Noam Murro does a decent enough job of aping Zack Snyder's style for this belated follow-up to the 2007 hit action flick, but the immensely bland lead Sullivan Stapleton is no Gerard Butler, and none of the action really manages to top what came before. Basically, it's just a watered-down retread. The Performance: Critics were united in their praise for Eva Green's turn as Xerxes' (Rodrigo Santoro) naval commander Artemisia, a terrifying presence throughout and easily the movie's most interesting and entertaining character. Of course, much of the reason for her popularity is her intimidating sexuality, culminating in one infamous sex scene in which Artemisia and Themistocles (Stapleton) attempt to "dominate" one another mid-coitus. Even ignoring this, though, her courageous performance made Artemisia more of a bada** than anyone else in the movie, and it's therefore a shame that she had to die at the end. Which awesome performances from 2014 belonged in better movies? Shout it out in the comments!
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
