If you remember my 2010 review of the first Percy Jackson movie, which was long-windedly titled Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, then you’ll remember that it quite liked it. (If you don’t remember it, you can read it here.) For kids, it’s a great little adventure movie. Had it been made when I was a twelve-year-old, then I would have loved it! Sadly, the nicest thing that I can say about Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is that they did a great job of shortening the title.
With the exception of Pierce Brosnan, the cast of the first installment is back for Sea of Monsters. After a strange attack on Camp Half-Blood, Percy and company set off on a dangerous adventure to stop a villain from unleashing a force that will not only bring Earth to its end, but that of Olympus and all other deity as well. Their journey will take them to the deadly “Sea of Monsters” – or as humankind knows it, The Bermuda Triangle.
Sadly, aside from a few tiny actors who are just happy to have lines and named characters in a Hollywood movie, nobody in Sea of Monsters appears to care at all that they’re in the movie. This sense of boredom translates to the screen and sucks the fun right out of any should-be entertaining scene. Just like the actors, the movie itself plods along and rarely warrants a response. Sea of Monsters is the type of movie that leaves you staring blankly at the screen for 104 minutes. Very few occasions warrant excitement or tension. This disappoint is only furthered when the titlar “Sea of Monsters” turns out the be the “Sea of Monster” – not plural. There’s literally only one monster in The Bermuda Triangle, and it’s not even found in the movie’s climax.
I haven’t a clue as to how Sea of Monsters will be received this weekend, but as a fan of the first movie, I can say that fellow fans will be pretty disappointed with the long-awaited sequel.
Photo credit: Fox
