PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS (2013)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy
Director: Thor Freudenthal
Cast: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, Melina Kanakaredes, Brandon T. Jackson, Douglas Smith, Missi Pyle, Yvette Nicole Brown, Mary Birdsong, Nathan Fillion, Stanley Tucci, Anthony Head, Leven Rambin
RunTime: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence And Frightening Scenes)
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: http://www.percyjacksonthemovie.com/us/
 
Opening Day: 29 August 2013 

Synopsis: Based on the best-selling series by Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, continues his epic journey to fulfill his destiny, as he teams with his demigod friends to retrieve the Golden Fleece, which has the power to save their home and training ground, Camp Half-Blood.

Movie Review:

The bestselling ‘Percy Jackson’ novels was essentially Greek mythology for young adults, its main characters made up of teenagers who were half-human and half-god - otherwise known as half-bloods - and receiving training at a special camp of the same name. Based on the second book of the series, ‘Sea of Monsters’ returns Logan Lerman as the titular character now fully aware of his identity as Poseidon’s demigod son, and somewhat of a legend after having saved the world by returning Zeus his lightning bolt.  

Also returning are: Grover (Brandon T. Jackson), the mischievous satyr (half man-half goat) who is Percy’s best friend and protector; Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), the daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom; and last but not least Luke, the son of Hermes and Percy’s ostensibly embittered nemesis after having been exposed as the lightning thief in the first movie. They are joined by a shaggy Cyclops named Tyson (Douglas Smith), Percy’s half-brother whose mother was a sea nymph (yes, we know what you’re thinking - Poseidon’s been going around getting some).

Camp Half-Blood is once again threatened - not by any of the wrath of the gods this time, but by an unknown enemy that has poisoned the magical tree responsible for the shield protecting the camp from evil forces. The solution? Retrieve the Golden Fleece in the Sea of Monsters (more commonly referred to as the Bermuda Triangle) to save the tree - and to add a frisson of urgency, Percy and his friends have to do it before Luke uses it to resurrect the dreaded Kronos, the long-dormant leader of the Titans.

In spite of the similarities one may draw between Percy and Harry Potter, the movie is no equivalent; rather, the plotting is no more than standard setup for some effects-heavy sequences and a healthy dose of tween-centric chuckle.  Indeed, this is strictly PG fare from start to finish, with none of that dark stuff which gripped the last few ‘Potter’ movies; but even with a pre-teen template, director Thor Freudenthal (“Diary of a Wimpy Kid”) executes CGI and humour with enough panache to make this an entertaining diversion.  

Milking the most out of his mid-sized budget, Thor stages a number of impressive set-pieces, including a voyage through the stomach of a vast sea monster Charybdis that leads up to a climactic battle with the revived Kronos in an abandoned amusement park. But the best of them all turns out to be a high-speed cross-country ride that Percy, Grover, Annabeth and Tyson hitch in a New York City cab driven by the grotesque-looking Gray Sisters trio (Mary Birdsong, Yvette Nicole Brown and Missi Pyle) whose squabbling over a lone eyeball resembles something out of a Tim Burton movie.

It’s a pity the rest of the movie scripted by Marc Guggenheim doesn’t begin to approach the inspired lunacy of this one sequence, even though the banter between the teen stars - including the hyper-competitive Clarisse (Leven Rambin), daughter of war god Ares - as well as the supporting adult characters is affably engaging. In particular, Freudenthal gets considerable mileage out of Nathan Fillon playing Hermes as a UPS worker and Stanley Tucci as Camp Half-Blood’s primary caretaker Dionysus - though both can hardly make up for the loss of Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Catherine Keener, Uma Thurman and Ray Winstone from the first movie.

Yet the brisk pace means it’s easy for an undemanding audience to overlook these flaws and simply be immersed in its teen-friendly imagining of mythology. Like its predecessor, this sequel is a movie that you’ll find reasonably enjoyable if you accept it on its own terms - and to do so, means understanding that this is constructed as an adolescent fantasy and no more. On that basis alone, ‘Sea of Monsters’ is good fun and harmless summer popcorn entertainment. 

Movie Rating:

(Some diverting effects-heavy setpieces and affable chemistry among the stars make for a reasonably engaging teen-centric piece of Greek mythology entertainment)

Review by Gabriel Chong