15 Laziest Movie Sequels Of All Time

12. 300: Rise Of An Empire (2014)

Warner Bros.

Zack Snyder's 300 hardly set itself up for a sequel, given the fact that almost the entire cast had been killed off by the time the credits rolled. However, in Hollywood when your movie makes almost $450m at the box office a follow-up is almost a given. With Snyder busy tackling the DC Cinematic Universe, commercials director Noam Murro stepped up to make his feature debut and deliver a sequel that delivered much, much more of the same.

Ironically, the only major deviation from the template established in 300 is Rise of an Empire's strongest suit. That would of course be Eva Green, whose scenery-chewing performance is the best thing in the movie by some distance. Apart from her show-stealing turn, the sequel is painfully derivative. Sullivan Stapleton's bland hero is no match for Gerard Butler, and Murro essentially photocopies Snyder's directorial style, with the barrage of speed-ramped action scenes becoming increasingly repetitive.

Visually and stylistically, Rise of an Empire is basically a carbon copy of the original. While it makes sense to establish franchise continuity, it amounts to little more than blockbuster filmmaking by committee. It looks the same, it sounds the same and the dialogue is much the same - this sequel takes the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' approach to offer a familiar follow-up lacking in any real personality.

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