LATE REVIEW!: Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters review

PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS:

ACTION PACKED AND BEAUTIFUL VISUALS, BUT IT’S NO HARRY POTTER!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** 1/2 out of 4

20^TH CENTURY FOX

Percy Jackson and his Half-Blood companions protecting the world in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

            Percy Jackson is a decent concept, not gonna lie, a kid who finds out he’s the son of the Greek God, Poseidon and has extraordinary powers. It’s a unique idea that spawned a popular series of books, a movie in 2010 titled Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and a sequel, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and while I forgot a majority of the plot from the first movie, I can say, the sequel is entertaining, nothing special, not great but not terrible either, just average.

            Logan Lerman (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) reprises his role as Percy Jackson, along with Brandon T. Jackson (Tropic Thunder), Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, and many other familiar faces, plus some new ones like Leven Rambin (The Hunger Games) as Clarisse La Rue, demigod of Ares, Douglas Smith as Percy’s Cyclops half-brother, Tyson, and Anthony Head, taking on the role as Percy’s mentor, Chrion from Pierce Brosnan, who played the character in the first movie. The characters are still just as likable as they were in The Lightning Thief, also the new characters are all very unique and enjoyable to watch.

            After the events of The Lightning Thief we find Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman), son of Poseidon, meeting his half-brother, Tyson (Douglas Smith), who happens to be a Cyclops (Yeah, I don’t get it either!) at Camp Half-Blood, home of the Greek Gods’ children. Tyson is recruited with Percy and his friends, Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) and Annabeth to set off on an incredible journey to the Sea of Monsters and locate the Golden Fleece, which happens to have the power of life, before Luke (Jake Abel) acquires it and succeeds in his evil plan to destroy Mount Olympus and resurrect his demonic grandfather.

            Along the way they run into a crazy trio of Taxi drivers with no eyes, other demigods and Half-Bloods, giant Cyclops monsters, and so on, pretty much all the typical fantasy story creatures.

            While inferior to its predecessor, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is at least watchable and entertaining. Plenty of exciting fantasy action, beautiful visual effects and 3D, and unique characters, however my big issues with the film were these plot elements that I felt were a little unnecessary, also it felt a little lacking in character development, a good example would be when Percy meets his half-brother, I think they should have gone deeper into the character and explain why he’s a Cyclops and Percy isn’t, that’s what I think would have made the film a little stronger.

            But for what I got, Sea of Monsters was an okay sequel, could have been better but it’s passable. It kept me entertained all the way through with its exciting action, special effects, and the metallic bull at the beginning of the movie, which was just plain awesome.

            If you’re looking for a great summer blockbuster, I’d say go to Elysium instead, it’ll be well worth your time and money. But if you’re a fan of the books or the first movie, check this flick out, you won’t be disappointed.