Home » Review: Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

Review: Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

With the success of the Harry Potter and Twilight movies in the past decade, movie studios have been clamouring to emulate their success by flinging more and more young adult novels at the screen and seeing what sticks. One of these attempts was 2010’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and while it was not the runaway success Fox was hoping for, it still achieved a moderate taking at the box office – enough, it seems, to warrant a sequel. Unfortunately, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is even more mediocre.

Director: Thor Freudenthal
Exhibition: 2D/3D
Rating: PG
Run Time: 106 mins

BRB-Score-2

The story picks up with Percy sometime after the events of the first movie. Despite having already saved the world, Percy is having a crisis of confidence – not only is he no longer than talk of Camp Half-Blood, the home of all child demi-gods, he is also getting the silent treatment from his father, the God of the Sea, Poseidon. Making matters worse, his former friend Luke, son of Hermes, poisons a magical tree in the grounds of the camp that threatens to expose those within to almost certain death. In order to save his home, Percy and his companions, Annabeth, Grover and Tyson, his cyclops half-brother, set out to find the Golden Fleece – said to have to power to heal anyone or anything.

percy-jackson-sea-of-monsters-screen1

One of the strengths of the first film was the strong ensemble cast, especially those in smaller roles. While Stanley Tucci and Nathan Fillion certainly do more than their fair share of carrying the movie despite their minimal screen time, far more is left to the young cast than before. Unfortunately, they do not have the script or natural charm to keep the movie afloat. Logan Lerman gives it his best shot but Percy’s character arc is just too easy to map out.

percy-jackson-sea-of-monsters-screen2

Normally when a sequel has a lower budget than the original, one of the first aspects of the movie to be hit is the production values, namely the CGI. Therefore, it’s a bit unusual that the digital effects are one of the more impressive elements of the film. While the climactic battle is a bit of a mess the rest of the set pieces, specifically the initial attack on the camp, are well-crafted.

percy-jackson-sea-of-monsters-screen3

The target audience also appears to skew a lot younger than expected, with a far narrower scope too. There are plenty of examples of family movies that appeal to both young and old, but Sea of Monsters seems to aim to please a certain market, to the detriment of the rest of the audience. The humour, the relationships and even the story progression will likely frustrate all but this audience. In fact, the best moment for me was Nathan Fillion referencing Firefly!

The creature effects are impressive
Tucci and Fillion are clearly having fun… and it shows
The young cast fail to carry the movie
The plot is far too predictable

With three more books in Rick Riordan’s series, Fox have a few more opportunities to get the formula right, if they wish to try it again. Unless they get the right talent in front of and behind the camera, it may be time for a burial at sea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KoOtiuSjuI

The author paid to see Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
Official Movie Site

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>