I personally feel both are pretty much the same in entertainment quality though I think this second one is better made in terms of projecting the power of the war and fighting scenes. The 'navy' wars scenes are really awesome and glued me to my back seat. Story wise, this is a different angle from the Leonides story which was Sparta against the Persians. This one is about the Greeks, or Athens, if I'm not mistaken against the Persians. It's like a completion of the 1st movie. And as I mentioned, I want to see a 3rd to happen.