Let me just state, for the record that I did not go see Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief in the theaters. Nooooo, I instead caught that on cable and I came to the realization that it really wasn't half bad, if they took out the flying sneaker routine towards the end it would have been decent, but I digress. In that film you were given a story to sink your teeth into. In that movie Percy was a half god half human demigod with mommy AND daddy issues. He was accused of a crime he did not commit and had to clear his name, all the while finding out who he really was and knowing there was a place for him somewhere in the universe. That movie dealt with sacrifice and painful loss, acknowledgment, respect, and friendship. THIS Percy Jackson movie, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters was completely devoid of all of that. The first Percy was directed by Christopher Columbus and written by Craig Titley, adapted from the book written by Rick Riordan. This Percy movie was directed by Thor and written by Marc Guggenheim, and while this was also adapted from the book written by Rick Riordan (there are five Percy Jackson books in total), this time around they missed something.
Percy Jackson is played by the affable Logan Lerman who reprises his role, he is again joined by Brandon T. Jackson who plays Grover, and Alexandra Daddario who plays Annabeth. Grover is a satyr, half man, half goat and Annabeth, also a demigod is the half daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom (along with a few other things). These three live in a small community in the woods with other kids like them, the only difference is Percy is the only offspring of one of the three gods that slew Kronos. Like Harry Potter, Percy is pretty famous for just being Percy. This time around there are a few demigod kids that want to bring the evil Kronos back to life so he can destroy Olympus and the world. In order for them to do that, Luke played by Jake Abel who is also reprising his role, the leader of this misguided band needs the golden fleece. The fleece can resurrect practically anything. Percy and his crew also need the fleece to repair a poisoned tree. Seriously!
The fight is to keep the fleece out of the hands of Luke and to bring it back to the community to repair the tree that protects the community from those that seek to do Percy and his mythical kind harm. The potential was there for a charming movie, but I think the studio and the director decided that this film didn't need charm, that what it needed was cyclops and 3D. I chose to see this movie in 2D so all I got were cyclops. One of the one eyed beasties happens to be Percy's half brother and another offspring of Poseidon, Tyson who is played by Douglas Smith. I'm sure the 3D was spectacular, but since i hate putting glasses on over my glasses, and since I hate paying that extra money for the same movie I can see for less money, I opted for the 2D.
There will be a third movie (five books, remember?), hopefully the next one(s) won't go light on the charm, the humor, or the danger. In Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters you never get the sense that Percy and his crew are ever in any real peril, or that they won't succeed. It comes across as almost a forgone conclusion that they will be victorious and save that day, which lends little thrill to the overall watching of the movie. Hopefully the next book in the series, Percy Jackson: The Titans Curse is handled more skillfully than this one. I'm not saying Thor isn't a talented director but his last two feature length movies were Hotel For Dogs and Diary of a Wimpy Kid so this task may have been a little out of his element. The score by rarely used Andrew Lockington was somewhat enjoyable, but not by much. At times it worked, but mostly it did nothing for the film, which I think is the films fault, not Andrews. I'd skip Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and see something else because this movie isn't worth just one of your golden drachmas. Google that if need be and I'll see you at the theater!
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