History wrought in gore

YOU don't need to know anything about ancient Greek history to appreciate 300: Rise of an Empire but it helps, especially when it comes to pronouncing those pesky Greek and Spartan names.

It's been seven years since Zack Snyder's 300 depicted - in gory detail and memorable style - the Battle of Thermopylae, where King Leonidas and 300 fellow Spartans perished heroically at the hands of the Persian Army. The much-anticipated sequel-of-sorts takes up where the original left off, covering the same time period and parallel events - primarily the naval Battle of Artemesium where an alliance of Greek ships faced off against a much larger Persian force.

The result is pretty much the same as 300, only this time there's even more raw sex and graphic violence - or is that graphic sex and raw violence?