Besides a little age on the returning actors, not much has changed in the 300 universe since 2006. And even the ravages of time are negligible, thanks to either make-up or digital effects. 300: Rise of an Empire (which I consistently mis-type as “Rose of an Empire” – smells so good) depicts events before, during, and after what we saw in 300. It is The Pacific to 300‘s Band of Brothers, the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead to 300‘s Hamlet, The Lion King 1 1/2 to 300‘s The Lion King. Yeah, those are perfect analogies.
Steven Cohen's 365 Days of Reviews 