300: Rise of an Empire Review By: Matt Cummings 300: Rise of An Empire is an orgy of bloody warfare and overtly nude women. And we're fine with that. Among our favorite films is the festival of gore and nudity known as 300 - it launched the careers of Actors Lena Headey and Gerard Butler , and made Zack Snyder an over-night household directorial name. We'd never seen anything like it before, and Hollywood responded by trying to duplicate its success to no avail. With the long-overdue release of 300: Rise of an Empire , we realize the sometimes the best way to duplicate success is to do it yourself. After the death of King Leonidas' 300, the Persian Army marches towards the various and disunited city-states, targeting Athens herself. While King Xerxes ( Rodrigo Santoro ) assaults the first democratic city in Europe, the brutal naval commander Artemisia ( Eva Green ) sets her eyes northward to Admiral Themistokles ( Sullivan Stapleton ), who uses brilliant tacti