“Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters”: A Familiar Voyage
A brisk, cheerful blockbuster sequel to “Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief,” but utterly devoid of plot surprises and frankly derivative.
Continuing his war against the gods and their offspring, Hermes’ son Luke Castellan (Jake Abel) attacks Camp Half-Blood and destroys its magical defenses. To restore it, the demigods need the Golden Fleece. Camp director Dionysus (Stanley Tucci) sends Ares’ daughter Clarisse (Leven Rambin) in search of the Fleece, but Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) and his friends decide they can handle the task better. Along with them on the journey to the Sea of Monsters goes the simple-minded cyclops Tyson (Douglas Smith), son of Poseidon and Percy’s half-brother.
The abandoned amusement park featured in the film is not a set, but a real park in New Orleans, destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Three years prior, director Chris Columbus and Fox released the first installment of the film adaptation of Rick Riordan’s novels, inspired by “Harry Potter” and ancient mythology. With investors pouring $95 million into “Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief,” the $227 million box office gross recouped production costs. However, the studio had hoped for more – “Percy Jackson” was meant to fill the niche vacated by “Potter” and not filled by “The Chronicles of Narnia.” It was expected to become an international hit and earn at least $400 million – with the potential to grow to billion-dollar “Potter-esque” earnings. In reality, “Percy” underperformed, and the studio had to either temper its appetite or figure out how to launch the series into a new orbit.
Polyphemus in “Sea of Monsters” is played by Canadian wrestler Robert Maillet, who stands at 6’10". He also appeared in “Pacific Rim” as a Russian pilot.
Scaling Back Expectations?
Judging by the credits of “Sea of Monsters,” Fox chose the former. While the debut film was packed with celebrities (from Sean Bean to Uma Thurman), “Sea of Monsters” doesn’t even feature Pierce Brosnan, who played the centaur Chiron in “The Lightning Thief.” He was replaced by Anthony Head from the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” series. When a studio dismisses movie stars, hires television actors (in addition to Head, Nathan Fillion from the series “Firefly” and “Castle” makes an appearance), and entrusts the film to second-rate children’s film director Thor Freudenthal (“Hotel for Dogs,” “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”), it’s clearly signaling that it doesn’t expect much from the sequel.
A Fast-Paced but Unoriginal Adventure
However, it can’t be said that Fox has completely written off “Jackson.” It allocated “Sea of Monsters” the same budget as the first film and spent the money saved on salaries on impressive and numerous (though not always convincing) special effects. And since Freudenthal, unlike Columbus, didn’t have to spend half the film explaining how ancient gods and their children ended up in America, his film turned out to be not only visually appealing but also fast-paced. As befits the heroes of teen blockbusters, Percy and his friends tirelessly jump from one adventure to another, pausing only to exchange jokes. If these adventures were surprising and unpredictable, “Sea of Monsters” could have hoped for a high rating. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The screenwriters reduced Riordan’s intricate plot to a banal sequence of events, each of which is a cliché ancient quote (for example, the battle with the cyclops Polyphemus from “The Odyssey”) or a pale imitation of “Indiana Jones,” “Star Wars,” and similar films. Nothing new, nothing unusual, nothing original. And with huge plot holes and performed by not very charismatic young actors, of whom only Lerman comes across as a teenager.