Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
Starring: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, Anthony Head
Director: Thor Freudenthal
Rating: 2.5/5
It was back in 2010 when we saw Logan Lerman take on the role of Percy Jackson for the first time… this week he reprises that role in Sea of Monsters.
Now, I thought the first movie was a lot of fun - it really was a great adventure story with a mythological twist - sadly this new film doesn’t quite hit the right notes.
This is by no means the worst movie that you will see this year - in fact if you are of the young teen ilk then you might actually quite enjoy it - but it is just weak.
To save their world, Percy and his friends must find the fabled and magical Golden Fleece.
Embarking on a treacherous odyssey into the uncharted waters of the Sea of Monsters (known to humans as the Bermuda Triangle), they battle terrifying creatures, an army of zombies, and the ultimate Evil.
There are some good moments in the film but they really are nothing more than moments; because the action ebbs and flows this has a huge impact on the pacing of the film.
There are scenes of great excitement - the bull at the beginning of the film for example - but this is then followed by very long periods where nothing actually happens.
This is a book series that has the potential to be a great and truly exciting film franchise, but they really have made a hash of the transition from book to film.
I am a fan of the central character of Percy Jackson; he may be the son of a god but he is plagued by self-doubt. There is an everyman quality to him that makes him very relatable to audiences.
And this is played perfectly by Logan Lerman; he depicts this character as your average teenager, who just happens to be the son of Poseidon.
Lerman has great onscreen chemistry with Brandon T. Jackson and Alexandra Daddario - it is this trio of friends that really do push the story and the action forward.
Anthony Head and Stanley Tucci are two of the big additions to the cast list this time around, but we really do see far too little of them. Their acting talents are pretty much gone to waste; however Head looks fantastic as a Centaur.
It would just have been great to see more of this characters because it really did feel too much like the first film; same trio on a quest and same baddie.
Douglas Smith is also new as Percy’s Cyclops half-brother Tyson, but he does make the whole thing into more of a family drama rather than adding anything exciting.
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is harmless family fun that will no doubt keep kids of a certain age very happy. But this franchise has the potential to be so much more and you really do feel that this is a major opportunity missed.
The end of Sea of Monsters did suggest that there were possible plans for a third film - should this go head let’s hope we get the mythological movie that we are all waiting for.
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is out now
Tagged in Percy Jackson