Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters: Movie Review

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters: Movie Review

Cast: Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddaro, Douglas Smith, Brandon T Jackson
Director: Thor Freudenthal

2010 saw the first Percy Jackson film unleashed onto the public. It was a great mix of Greek mythology, modern day humour and a major first to have a dyslexic hero on screen.

And now, the sequel's finally arrived in the cinematic form of Rick Riordan's second book, The Sea of Monsters.

This time around, Logan Lerman's Percy Jackson is feeling a little like he's a one quest wonder as the Half-blood offspring of Poseidon. When the camp that they inhabit comes under attack and the barrier separating them from the rest of the world is threatened, Percy's rival Clarisse (Leven Ramblin) is sent to recover the Golden Fleece and save the day.

But Percy, determined to live up to his name and face his prophesied destiny, grabs his friends Grover (Jackson) and Annabeth (Daddario), along with his newly discovered Cyclopean brother Tyson (Douglas Smith) and sets out to retrieve the fleece himself.

However, that quest means he has to cross the Sea of Monsters (aka The Bermuda Triangle) and face all manner of perils....

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is a fairly reasonable family piece of cinematic entertainment.

It starts off quite well, setting up a nice mix of creatures and mythology before ever so slightly losing its way after Percy leaves the camp the gang all call home. Whereas the first film relied a little more on the Greek mythology theme, this latest appears to have all but dispensed of that side of things and gone for a more formulaic family blockbuster film which is light on scares, and more on action.

That's not a bad thing - but it's a mixed bag at times. While Lerman and Daddario have charm eminating from their characters, they're clearly getting a little too old to play them as they look less fresh faced than in the previous outing. But they give it their all - and Lerman certainly manages to gallantly convince of his own crisis of self-belief.

Some of the creature work is fantastically well realised (even though there aren't perhaps enough monsters in a movie with the subtitle Sea of Monsters) but some of the work done when the trio are riding on creatures or being tossed around is a little wonky to say the least. That said, a final bad guy / boss battle at the end is stunningly original as it dissolves around our heroes while fighting them. Along with an animated sequence which is essentially coloured stained glass and tells the myth of the Titans versus the Olympians, there is some truly wondrous VFX at play in this film - despite the odd misfire.

As for the human talent, the best of the bunch is a cameo from Nathan Fillion as Hermes (who works for the postal service - geddit?) who steals his scenes. Thanks largely in part to a wonderful gag about much missed TV series Firefly, the film could have benefited more from his presence throughout. Alas, not this time around. Stanley Tucci is mischievous and bitter as Dionysus and Anthony Head brings some venerable acting to a centaur, meaning the adults are matching the kids throughout.

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is pacy enough blockbuster entertainment which has a charm but lacks a certain emotional pull throughout. There's never really any feeling of a threat to Percy and his crew - and according to the Percy Jackson readers who went with me, fans of the books will be disappointed that large chunks have been missed out left, right and centre.

As family entertainment goes, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is perfectly serviceable and utterly forgettable the minute it's over. If a third film goes ahead (as is hinted at the open ending), there really does need to be a little more magic in this franchise to make it stand on its own two legs.

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